Secrets, Secrets
by MoldyMoo
Summary: NOW A SERIES OF ONESHOTS...During an akuma attack, Ladybug is hurt...and is too weak to return everything to normal. Reveal fic fluff and MORE. That one time she dated Luka, Chat gets akumatized, Chat gets stabbed...etc.
1. Secrets, Secrets

"Come _on_ , girl," Alya whined from the phone Marinette had pinched between her shoulder and her ear. She was quickly throwing things into a bag—extra socks, some gloves, extra gloves in case someone forgot theirs— "Everyone is practically here already. You're gonna be late."

"I'll be there," she breathed, eyes darting around the room for her scarf. "They just finished getting the rink all set up, it's not going anywhere until January, Alya."

"Yeah, but I want to get my fix before the little kids and ice ballerinas gouge it to hell."

"Alya."

"Marinette." The woman on the other end of the line finally sighed. "For once, can you ever be early to something? Just one time?"

"Even if I said yes, it wouldn't happen now," she muttered. She located the scarf on the rack in the corner and ripped it off before darting for the stairs. "I'm leaving now. I'll text you when I get there, okay?"

"You better hurry," she advised, a new tone in her voice that had Marinette narrowing her eyes. "Adrien just got here with Nino, but Chloe is already on the ice so you can imagine—"

"I said I'm on my way…And will you stop pretending like I still have a crush on him? We're just _friends_."

"You both can keep chanting that all you want. But you better hurry," Alya taunted before ending the call.

Marinette pulled the phone from her ear and groaned, pulling her coat on and winding the scarf around her neck. She pulled out a small scrap of knitted fabric and held it open in front of her.

"What is that for?" Tikki asked, zipping up beside her and looking into the little hole at the top. "Did you knit a balloon?"

Marinette laughed. "No, silly, I figure we'll be outside for a bit, you can hang out inside here to keep warm. You've always just been inside the pocket of my coat, but I don't want to fall and squish you."

Tikki dove down into it and poked her head back out. "Oh, thank you, Marinette!"

Marinette grinned and tucked the little bundle of cloth and kwami into her backpack. "Now let's go or we're going to be late. I need to save Adrien from Chloe before she gets her claws too deep into him."

"Or you could just tell him how you feel for _once_ and _he_ can tell Chloe he wants time alone with you," Tikki suggested as Marinette closed and locked the bakery doors behind her.

"I've told you a million times, Tikki. I'm over him. I have been for a long time," she muttered.

"Yes, yes," Tikki sighed.

"It's been too long," Marinette admitted. "I think I lost my chance years ago. Maybe he'll never _really_ be _just a friend_ to me, but I feel like if I told him now, it would ruin the really close friendship we've built over the last couple of years and I don't want to risk that." Marinette pursed her lips in thought as she let the words settle in her head. "Yeah, I'm comfortable with my relationship with Adrien right now. I don't want to ruin it."

Tikki hummed in thought for a second. "I know things with Luka didn't end _exactly_ how you thought, but maybe he'd be interested in catching up at least? Who knows where things can go from there!"

Marinette just cast a doubtful look down to her companion. Dating Luka had just been one big ball of weirdness.

"Well then, what about Chat Noir?" Tikki suggested. "You already _know_ he's in love with you."

Marinette eyed the critter in the side pocket. "Why are you so set on setting me up with someone?"

Tikki shrugged. "I just don't want you to be lonely forever."

"I'm not lonely!" she defended. "Besides, I _do_ love Chat Noir kind of the same way I love Adrien. But we're _just_ friends. Besides…Adrien sees the _real_ me. Chat Noir only sees Ladybug, not who I really am. He doesn't know Marinette. And we have such good chemistry working together. I don't want to ruin that, either."

"What if you knew who Chat Noir _really_ is?" Tikki tried.

"Tikki we both know that _can't_ happen." Tikki only grinned in response. "You've known who he is for years now and you wouldn't tell me who he is even if I asked, so why would you toy with me like that?"

"For a long time. Since that first incident with Dark Owl when you were fourteen." she nodded, remembering. "He has to want to tell you. And since _his_ kwami knows who _you_ are, I don't think he's told Chat Noir about you, either. That's how it has always been."

"I'm surprised you remember that one," Marinette muttered as they stopped at a crosswalk. "I barely remember that one. That was Mr. Damocles, right?"

"Right!"

"You haven't ever even dropped a hint you knew who Chat Noir is," she mused.

"I'm very careful."

"But it's not a good idea," Marinette sighed.

"No, it's probably not," Tikki agreed with a little nod.

The light turned green and Marinette moved to step out into the street when an explosion to her left rocked the road, setting off car alarms all around her.

Marinette groaned at the poor timing and ducked down into an ally. "Ready Tikki?"

-x-

Ladybug ground her teeth as she caught her yoyo and landed on the edge of a roof across the park from the newest menace to Paris. A giant butler with a laser monocle. Great.

"Where in the world is Chat Noir?" she muttered to herself between deep breaths. A small sound of feet landing behind her and she resisted the urge to groan.

"You called, M'Lady?"

She did roll her eyes. "Where have you been? He's turned everyone on the block into statues."

"Sorry," he shrugged. "I was a little held up. Had plans with friends, and this guy is interrupting."

"Same," she sighed. "I think the akuma is either in the cane or the monocle."

"I trust your judgment," Chat called over his shoulder as they both pushed off the roof towards the akumatized citizen. "Any idea who it is?"

"Not a clue. Well, I mean, there are clear _clues_ , but I don't know who he is."

"Ha," he breathed as they landed in the street. "Nice one."

"Be quiet and let's hurry," she sighed. "I'm late enough as it is. Look." She pointed as the giant man came to a bridge, shrinking to go under it. "He can change size. Maybe if we can get him inside somewhere, he'll shrink to something we can handle."

"Since when has size been a problem for us?"

Ladybug glanced at him tiredly, hearing the double meaning in his words but ignoring them. She tossed out her yoyo and leapt up towards the shoulder of the man.

"Oh, come on! Why are you so grumpy today?" she heard him call after her.

Well _clearly_ it's because she's fighting an akuma instead of hanging out at the new outdoor ice rink with her friends. But she kept her mouth shut and helped Chat Noir maneuver the giant man into shrinking, pushing him through the large glass windows and into the lobby of some hotel.

"Alright, this I can handle," Chat Noir laughed, landing beside her. "Eight feet tall isn't that bad."

"Better than twenty."

"We just have to keep him in here."

"Go for the monocle, I'll get his cane."

She poked him in the side and he took off, vaulting over the man with a simple flip and landing square on his shoulders. Ladybug took the opportunity that came with the distraction and tossed out her yoyo. With lucky accuracy, it wrapped around the bottom section of the cane, and she raced towards the other two, sliding easily between the man's feet.

With a single jerk, the bottom of the cane slid out from the man's hand and the heavy top brought the whole thing shattering to the ground. With a pang of agitation, Ladybug hopped to her feet. "Not the cane, it has to be the monocle!" she called to her partner, dashing forwards again.

But the man must have been distracted by her shout. He spun towards her and caught her by the upper arm. He jerked her back, her right shoulder screaming in protest of the motion, but she never got a chance to reorient herself before the man had tossed her across the room roughly.

She recognized Chat Noir calling her name, but was too distracted by the sudden burst of pain radiating from her shoulder as she collided with the floor. Ladybug slid across the slick tiles until her back hit the wall, jostling her and she let out an involuntary cry.

" _Ladybug_ ," his voice snapped again, and she gasped as she sat up, her right arm hanging oddly at her side.

"I'm alright," she ground out, using the wall to stand. "Just get his stupid monocle."

Chat Noir stood on the other side of the man, watching as Ladybug shakily stood up. "Alright, sir, I'm going to need you to _calm down for a minute_." With a precisely aimed Cataclysm, the hooped chandelier fell around the man tightly, and he wasted no more time plucking the round gold disk off the man's face and destroying it beneath his foot.

He cast a glance towards Ladybug. "You sure—"

Without another word, and partially thankful she could capture an akuma with her left hand, Ladybug tossed out her yoyo, caught, and released the little butterfly. Despite the black spots dancing in her vision now, she threw her yoyo up and let it explode above their heads.

She watched with a grimace as the red around her faded and almost everything went back to normal, to how it was before. Well, almost everything. The room swayed a little, enough that her foot shifted subconsciously to keep her upright. And the harsh pain in her shoulder hadn't subsided.

This was going to be bad. She was too weak from the pain. She didn't have enough power left to heal herself after fixing everything else. How was she going to explain this away? She had to get out of there before anyone recognized that her shoulder was very clearly dislocated.

"Ladybug." Suddenly Chat Noir was in front of her, concern painted all over his face and he walked towards her. His eyes were trained on her shoulder, his hands up and positioned to grab her.

Instinctively she turned the shoulder away from him and put her other hand on her hip, hoping to throw him off. "Good job!" she said as cheerily as she could through the pain. "Pound it." He half-heartedly returned the gesture, still eying her.

"You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," she breathed, hoping it came off as more exasperated than in pain. She added a half chuckle at the end for good measure. A beeping in her ear and her blood ran cold. Now was definitely _not_ the time. "Crap. But I didn't use my Lucky Charm…"

"Lady—"

She let out a yell as he stepped forward and bumped her arm as she tore away from him a few steps. His face hardened. "I'm fine—"

"You're not alright. I can _see_ , Ladybug." He stepped towards her and cupped her cheek, forcing her to look up at him. "This is the only secret you've ever kept from me," he said as he ran his thumb over the edge of her mask, his voice a low rumble. When had his voice gotten that deep? "I've respected that because I care about you, but you're _hurt_."

"Please just go," she begged, holding her right arm gently to her with her left. As she took a few steps away from him to put some distance between them, she glanced around the room and spotted a maintenance closet off the one side. "We can't know—"

"I'm not about to leave you here like this," he snapped, but he didn't make any move to approach her again. "You're hurt. Maybe it's time we _did_ find out, LB."

"No."

Chat Noir's ring ticked as well, warning him his time was almost up, and Ladybug took that distraction to dart for the closet. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out in pain, but almost as soon as she got the door shut and pressed her left shoulder into it, she could hear him at the door, twisting the handle.

"Go away, Chat Noir, please," she begged. "I'll be alright, I promise. It's just a bruise. I'm being a baby. I'll be fine."

"Ladybug," he groaned, and she winced in silence as the familiar warmth of the transformation took over her and left her in her street clothes.

Her eyes darted around the dark space around her lit only by the thin streams of light leaking in from the cracks in the door frame, but she didn't see Tikki anywhere.

"Come on, don't do this. Let me help you."

A sudden silence on the other side of the door gave her the chance to slide down, using her good hand to check the floor around her. Finally, her fingers brushed a small, warm lump and Marinette wasted no time scooping her up.

"I'm sorry, Tikki," she murmured to her. "I wasted too much of my power. Are you hurt?"

"I'll be alright," her tiny voice responded, barely reaching Marinette's ears.

"I changed back, too," Chat Noir muttered through the door, knocking once. She could imagine him leaning his forehead against it, trying the handle a couple more times.

"Then you need to leave." Marinette shifted so she was leaning against the door on her left side, her legs curled beneath her.

"You need help," Tikki said. "Your shoulder is dislocated."

"Listen to your kwami." There was a pause. "What's its name?"

"Her name is Tikki," Marinette grumbled, wracking her brain for a way to get out of this without revealing her identity.

"Tikki. Cute." He chuckled and she could tell he, too, was leaning against the door on the floor now. "Mine's name is Plagg."

"Flag?"

" _Plagg_. Like plague, but Plagg."

"Hey! Toy with revealing your _own_ identity, not _mine_ ," a lighter voice argued on the other side of the door.

"You already _know_ , Plagg," Tikki called to him through the door, flying up out of Marinette's hands. "Tell him to go home!"

"He doesn't listen to me," the other kwami scoffed.

"You didn't even try!"

"We've had some close calls before," Chat Noir mused, ignoring the critters' argument. "We've almost revealed ourselves to each other before."

"Right," she agreed slowly, a few times coming to mind. "But I don't want this, not right now. I'm telling you—I'm _fine_."

"You know I don't believe you, right?" There was a pause. "What if I told you who I was, first? I mean, I have some pretty solid suspicions about your identity for a few years now…"

She sighed. "I still wouldn't tell you. I feel fine, please trust me. I can totally throw a pitch right now—" The door shook violently as he banged his elbow back into the wood and she jumped in surprise, jostling her arm. Marinette bit her cheek to keep from making a sound. "Jerk! You startled me. Just go home, Chat Noir."

"That's not my name," he said cheekily. "You're not even curious as to who _I_ am?"

"No."

"Not even a little? I'm pretty sure I know yours," he cooed through the door.

Marinette wasn't sure if Chat Noir had seriously tried to figure out her identity, or if he was baiting her. Either way, she wasn't about to give in. "No. I want to go home. I have homework. Please leave."

"Nah," he sighed. "I think I'd rather get to know you a little bit better, since you're feeling fine and all. We've worked together for what—three years now, almost four?—and I feel like I barely know you. You're still in school?"

"You knew that. And you should know more if you _really_ think you know who I am."

"Did I?" he countered jocularly and she was pretty sure she could feel his smirk through the door. "Do you have a favorite class? I know a girl like you is probably surrounded by friends. Maybe we know each other in school."

Well, he wasn't wrong about the friends bit. Ever since Alya moved to Paris, she'd been more open with her classmates and they'd all grown close over the years. But Marinette couldn't help the bitter laugh that escaped her mouth. "No, we probably don't know each other. We probably don't even go to the same school."

He hummed in agreement. "I'd recognize those gorgeous eyes of yours in person if I ever saw you."

"Oh geez…do you ever quit?"

"Hm. That brings up a good thought," he mused. "It's been a while since we talked about personal lives—you _know_ , one of us is a little less open than the other. You used to mention a boy in school a couple of times before. You seeing someone?"

She laughed again, more genuine this time if not a bit sad at the thought. "No. No significant other. It would be hard to explain the random disappearances and flaky behavior."

"All the more reason to tell me who you are," he coaxed. "Would be nice to have someone that understands."

"Not a chance."

"Worth a shot. Still hung up on that classmate, then?"

"That boy never gave me the time of day. We're just really good friends now, and I'm still happy with having just that," she mumbled, half hoping he wouldn't hear her. But she was not going to let him figure out who she was, so it was a moot point. "What about you? Does Chat Noir have a girlfriend?"

"Nope. I've only got eyes for _you_ , Buggaboo."

"Well, if that were true, you'd listen and respect what I'm telling you when I say _go home Chat Noir._ "

There was a heavy sigh and Marinette heard him shift to stand on the other side of the door. "Alright. But just know you're going to be the reason I don't sleep tonight because I'm going to be worried about you." His voice grew softer, not directed at her, "C'mon, Plagg. I'll slip you some cheese when we get there."

"If you're lying to me—" Plagg let out a surprised squeak.

Marinette kept her mouth shut, relieved that he seemed to be leaving.

"Marinette, what are you going to do about your arm?" Tikki pressed quietly, flying on her own now.

There was a pause outside the door and she held her breath, waiting to hear his footsteps disappearing away from the door. Her blood turned to ice, hoping with all her good luck that Chat hadn't heard Tikki say her name.

"Just let me know you make it home okay, alright?"

"Thank you," she said weakly, finally hearing his footfalls leaving the lobby. Some kind of emotion lodged itself in her chest next to the pain and worry. Was it regret? It sure felt like it.

"Marinette, you need to go to the hospital!" Tikki flew into Marinette's face and poked her nose. "Let's go!"

"Right," she breathed, leaning on the door in an effort to get off the floor painlessly. Her hand hovered over the handle, hesitating.

"Marinette!"

"What if he's tricking me?" she asked. "What it he's still outside—"

"If you don't go now, I'll go find him and bring him back myself," Tikki snapped. "Your identity is the least of our concerns right now!"

Marinette nodded briefly and pushed the door open, relieved to find Chat Noir was nowhere in sight. Nor did she catch a single glimpse of him the whole walk across the city to the hospital. Her father showed up after they'd reset the bone and were in the process of fitting her with a sling.

"Oh, Marinette," he sighed, wiping the remains of tears off her cheeks. "What did you do?"

Marinette floundered, still reeling from the pain and the earlier events. She hadn't taken the time to come up with a solid story. "I was leaving the shop, going to hang out with friends."

"Did you fall off your scooter again?" he asked, cupping her cheek with a small smile. "My clumsy, clumsy seventeen year old. If you're not careful you won't see twenty at this rate."

A giggle bubbled up her throat at the perfect excuse he just handed her, and she returned his hug one armed. "I'm sorry to cause too much trouble," she mumbled into his shoulder.

"I'm just glad you're okay. You worry me some days."

"I want to go home," she mumbled as he pulled back to look at her. He nodded and left to go find the doctor.

-x-

"This isn't like Marinette to be _this_ late," Alya chewed her lip in concern as her call bounced straight to voicemail for the third time.

"Yeah, being a no-show is usually _your_ thing," Nino commented, looking up at Adrien, who only shrugged.

"I hope she's alright," Rose sighed. "She usually shows up eventually, but it's been _hours_."

"You don't think something has happened to her, do you?" Alya dared to ask their dwindling group. She tapped Marinette's number again to call her phone. "Maybe I'll swing by her house on the way home, just to check in on her."

Nino nodded and leaned over to give her a quick peck on the lips. "Let me know what's up. I gotta head home."

"Me, too," Rose sighed. "I need to study for that history test tomorrow."

"Bye, guys," Alya muttered weakly, frowning as Marinette's voicemail kicked up again. She glanced up at Adrien. "You can't tell me you're not worried."

"I am," he said slowly. "But I was just hoping she wasn't caught up in that Akuma attack."

"Yeah," Alya sighed, pocketing the phone for now. She bent down and hoisted her bag and skates over her shoulder. "A couple of other people weren't healed completely by Ladybug's power like usual."

Adrien frowned. "What?"

"Nothing serious," Alya brushed it away with a wave of her hand. "Worst I heard was someone got a couple stitches for a head wound. Everything else I heard about was mostly just bumps and bruises. I hope _she's_ okay, too."

"Yeah," he mused quietly, frowning and checking his own phone. "Look, I gotta go, too, but please let me know if you hear from Marinette, alright?"

"Will do," she saluted as he turned away. "I'm sure she's fine. She'll show up tomorrow at school with some elaborate _Marinette_ story."

"I'm sure you're right," Adrien called over his shoulder, forcing a laugh. He'd always had his suspicions, but there was a deep, nagging feeling in his heart and he'd never hope more so than now that he was wrong in his theory…

-x-

Adrien groaned and handed a piece of the foul cheese over to his kwami before flopping down onto the sofa in his bedroom. "Girls are so damn stressful," he complained. "Any message from Ladybug?"

"Why? Ladybug _said_ she was okay. Would she lie to you?" Plagg mumbled around the food in his mouth.

"Lie, no. But withhold the truth so that she doesn't think I'll worry, yes." He held his phone up above him as it vibrated and tapped the screen to open the group chat. "Any message, Plagg?" he asked again.

"Nope."

 _Finally got Marinette on the phone. She's fine._

A round of messages immediately began blowing up the chat and he just dropped his phone back onto the couch. He sighed in relief. "At least Alya was right, and Marinette missing us today was just her being…her."

Plagg choked on his cheese for a second before clearing his throat.

Adrien sat up and leaned over the back of the couch to glare at Plagg. "Chat got your tongue?" he asked when the tiny critter immediately averted his gaze.

"No, I just swallowed it wrong," he defended, turning away from Adrien.

Adrien flopped back down onto the couch. Maybe his theory _was_ wrong. Just when he was leaning towards Marinette possibly being Ladybug, there was always something that happened to push him further the other way. Either way, Marinette was fine, which was good. She was finally starting to behave normally around him for once.

It had bothered him for years. The first year or so that he knew Marinette, it wasn't such an issue. But over time, it started to nag at him. She was sweet and kind to him, sure, but he could tell she didn't feel like herself around him and it bothered him. Sometimes he'd show up on her balcony as Chat Noir if only to have a normal conversation with her, to experience what literally all of his classmates got to experience on a daily basis.

She was so sassy, so witty when he was Chat Noir. It kind of hurt him that she couldn't be that way with him as Adrien…

"Maybe we should go check in on Marinette," he muttered aloud.

"Maybe we should not," Plagg shot back, clearly still eating. "I'm tired, I know _you're_ tired, and if you miss another lesson your dad is going to keep you locked up all weekend."

"Just a quick swing by her house?" He glanced at the time on his phone. "We can be there and back before the instructor even shows up."

"A quick trip now, or getting to see her all weekend," Plagg mused. "Your funeral. You can go see her as Chat Noir later this weekend, too." Sometimes his kwami understood him better than he thought.

"Alright..."

-x-

Adrien was turned around in his seat to face Alya, so he didn't immediately see her when she walked in. But he saw Alya's face go white and her jaw drop.

"Marinette, oh my god!"

Adrien followed her gaze, whipping around to the door as Alya tore past behind him and rushed up to her. Marinette's face grew red with a blush as others formed a little circle around her, and Adrien found himself among them, completely cold inside.

"What happened, girl?" Alya snapped, a hand hovering above the sling Marinette's arm was in keeping her right arm pinned to her chest. "You didn't mention this on the phone last night!"

"I didn't want to worry you or anyone else," she said quickly, waving her only free hand. "I was on my way to meet you guys and my scooter threw me off. I dislocated my shoulder. It's really silly and embarrassing actually. I'm so clumsy."

"Oh Marinette," Rose sighed. "We were so worried."

"I'm sorry," she replied sheepishly, blushing again. "I hope I didn't ruin your day out."

"We'll just have to go again this weekend," Alya sighed before giving her best friend a wink. "You don't need arms to ice skate. Or we can just find you a big strong _guy_ to hold you up." Another wink and Marinette rolled her eyes.

The group began to disperse after a few words, and Adrien took his chance. "I'm glad you're okay," he said, reached out and putting a hand on her good shoulder. "Can I talk to you out in the hall for a second before class starts?"

Marinette blinked at him, glancing at the hand on her shoulder before coming back down to earth. "Oh—I—wait— _yes_." She spun on her heel and led Adrien out the door, shooting a meaningful glance towards Alya as she left, who gave her two thumbs up and a huge grin.

"Did it hurt?"

"A little," Marinette lied, offering up a one-armed shrug. "Like I said, it was really dumb, how it happened and all..."

"You fell off your scooter?" he meant it as a statement, repeating the story she'd told the others, but it came out more like he was questioning her, and Marinette didn't miss the insinuation.

Her eyebrows lowered fractionally. "Yeah, pretty dumb."

He felt anger flare up in his chest, a protective and ridiculous feeling, the memory of her flying through the air and tumbling across the marble floor replaying in his head. "Are you sure that's what really happened?" The words were out of his mouth like a whip and he instantly regretted it the moment his mouth snapped shut. He had always been so careful with his father, making sure to think before speaking, to calculate his words carefully, but something about this woman was making his mind hazy.

"What do you mean?"

Ladybug's words from the previous night were ringing in his head like an alarm bell, her personal feelings beginning to override his own.

Suddenly he found himself in a mental battle. He didn't want to oust her like this; he didn't want to force her. But she had forced _him_. They were partners. They were in this together. Right? He didn't have a _right_ to know, as Plagg kept reminding him—her identity was hers to offer up. But she would end up knowing his, too.

He was pretty sure he figured it out now. And if _Marinette_ was _Ladybug_? How had he not known for _years_? How had he missed every signal, every subtle clue?

Of course, he didn't experience her flakiness like the others did—he flaked just as much, being Ladybug's partner and all. Any weirdness had been masked by his own anxiety over his own weirdness. He'd had his inklings, little _what ifs_ that clouded his mind on sleepless nights as he wondered who she could possibly be…

Adrien ran a hand through his hair. "I was worried," he mumbled, settling for being vague, a mental compromise. He didn't feel as confident without his mask, either. "Last night."

Marinette's dark brows pulled together in confusion. "The—the rink?" she asked for clarity. "I meant to worry you— _Didn't_! I _didn't_ mean to worry you."

"No—it wasn't—" Adrien took a slow breath and decided to not outright say it. Maybe if he gave her enough clues, over time, she'd come to the same conclusion he had. "Yes. That, too."

"Too?"

Well, he'd meant to be a bit _subtler_. But then again, there was a bubble of anger curling in his chest over this whole situation. Her voice, twisted and mangled as a cry left her throat. The sound of her body bouncing across the floor…He should have been the one to help her, rush her to the hospital and stay with her. Had she been alone for the whole thing? Had she been in pain most of the night on her trek to the hospital?

He studied the way her fingers twitched, dangling uselessly from the sling.

"Can I sign it?" he asked finally, pulling a pen from his back pocket. "Your sling?"

"Uh, people don't usually do that, do they?" she stammered, but she didn't move to stop him or step away.

He threw a grin to her like he would if he'd had the mask on and leaned for her sling, holding her gently by the elbow to steady it so he didn't jostle the joint at her shoulder. He spent a few seconds doodling instead of signing a name.

Adrien grinned as he straightened and capped the pen, watching as Marinette tilted her head to see the image upside down. "It's a…cat?"

"A black cat," he confirmed with a wink. "Anything to cheer m'lady up." He watched her frown deeply and his smile wavered, but he held strong to his resolve. No. This was the right thing to do. She could be as mad as she wanted, but he would continue to bombard her with hints until she got the point.

She'd kept plenty from him over the years, claiming that some things were a need-to-know basis. He, on the other hand, has kept nothing from her.

He hated secrets, and this one had gone on for far too long. He agreed with Plagg, in the beginning, they were kids. Thirteen year olds with tremendous power and very little knowledge of the real world, of the cruelty of man. Now they were seventeen—nearly adults and getting ready to be thrust into the world on their own.

When college rolled around, how would he know where Ladybug ended up if he didn't know who she was? She had been hesitant to give out any information as to her identity, carefully leaving words vague enough for no unintentional hints. Until last night.

"You're a—I guess you—you have no idea how long—," she floundered visibly in front of him, her face getting pale and her cheeks getting red. Emotions flickered quickly as she struggled to form words. He knew she was starting to connect the dots just as quickly as he had the minute she'd walked through the door that morning. He could feel Plagg's attempts to get his attention from the pocket inside his jacket, but he only responded by pressing a hand on top of him to keep him still.

"We should get back to class," he said with a sly grin, one he only ever held for his Ladybug.

Marinette's jaw worked as she fought to speak, but reached out to grab his sleeve as he turned to return to class. He stopped and turned, giving her an expectant look. He waited patiently for her to finally speak.

" _You_?" was all that left her mouth, and barely loud enough for him to pick up.

He took another step towards her, choosing his words carefully in case he was mistaken and she hadn't just figured it out like he had. He crossed his arms. "You didn't contact me last night to tell me you made it home okay."

"This is such a bad idea," a voice grumbled from inside Adrien's jacket pocket, and he instinctively jumped to cover it with his hand, but Plagg poked his head out anyways. "You are the most impatient person I've ever met."

"It's too late now," a new voice sighed, rising from Marinette's purse to join them.

"How did you sleep last night?" Marinette asked flatly, putting her good hand on her hip. She studied his face but found no immediate signs that he truly was Chat Noir.

"Like a baby," he said flippantly with a grin. There it was, a flicker in his mannerisms—that grin so familiar she could see the mask and green eyes flash across his face in her mind's eye. And suddenly her mind was reversing, going backwards through their conversations, today and all the ones before. Signs that he was the famous Chat Noir jumped out at her _now_ , signs she'd obviously missed before because who would have thought Chat Noir would be the quiet blond model?

"So…up every couple of hours and super needy?" she joked before looking him up and down with a frown. "Little old to be wetting the bed, though."

"Ha ha," he said dryly, crossing his arms. "Actually, I didn't sleep at all. You know, you're talking a lot more eloquently to me now that you know I'm Chat Noir. Is the clumsy-spastic-girl thing an act? Pretty brilliant, actually…"

"What?" she practically shrieked. "I don't—you have no idea that—what I mean is—" Marinette floundered after hearing him say it out loud, the reality finally sinking in that _Adrien_ was _Chat Noir._

 _Adrien._

Her breath caught in her throat at her next thought.

Chat Noir was in love with Ladybug. And now that he knew who Ladybug was…but he didn't know. Her heart slowed its pace a bit. He didn't know who she had a crush on. She'd never told him. _She_ was safe for now, but what if he put two and two together. Oh, god, the embarrassment….

But her heart deflated as suddenly as it had quickened. Adrien was in love with Ladybug, not Marinette…

"You okay, Marinette?"

"No," she breathed. "I'm going back to class."

He darted to move in front of her. "Look, I'm sorry, Marinette, I know you wanted to keep it a secret, I know—"

"This is _bad_ , Adrien," she whispered harshly, gesturing between them quickly. "What if you or I get akumatized now—Hawk Moth can get _both_ of our identities! Like, _really easily._ " She stood straighter, deepening her voice mockingly. "Oh, hey, Ladybug. Now that you're akumatized, who is Chat Noir _really_?"

Adrien reached out and cupped her cheek. "If you got akumatized, we have a lot worse things to worry about than identities."

"In case you forgot, it's happened before," she breathed, trying to find her voice through the raging river of conflicting emotions around her because _oh my god, Adrien is touching her cheek_ but also _oh my god_ , _Adrien_ is _Chat Noir._

Adrien blinked at her, his pale brows pulling together as he thought. And then his hand dropped from her face. "Oh, right. I forgot about that."

"Ladybug showed up late," she grumbled, crossing her arms. "You were so mad."

"That was right before we met Queen Bee," he mused lightly, sending a spark of new annoyance through Marinette.

" _That_ was why we _needed_ her," she ground out. "And let's not forget about _you_."

"Me?"

Marinette crossed her arms. " _Camera Man_?"

Adrien's face grew pale and he frowned. "That was the stupidest name ever."

"Are you starting to see my point?"

Adrien just grinned. "I'm not emotional enough to get akumatized like that again. And besides, Marinette and Adrien can get akumatized all they want, but until _Chat Noir_ or _Ladybug_ get akumatized, we don't have an issue."

"Oh, and I _am_ emotional enough?" she scoffed, moving to return to class. "Come on, Tikki." The little kwami that had been quietly conversing with Plagg flew back into the opened bag and helped Marinette close it. Adrien simply held his jacket open for Plagg to return to his hiding spot.

"That's not what I meant, I just mean—"

Marinette rounded on him just inside the doorway. "I'm still mad at you," she hissed quietly. "I told you yesterday I _didn't want this_."

He couldn't keep the angry stare off his face. "And you didn't think I wouldn't put two and two together when Ladybug dislocates her shoulder and suddenly a classmate shows up with one?"

"Coincidences _happen_ , Adrien." She spun around to walk away from him, but he grabbed her wrist and held her there until she turned to him. Marinette was taken aback a little by the fierceness in his eyes, something foreign on Adrien's face, but she'd seen it countless times on Chat Noir. Their eyes were different, she noted. Chat Noirs were undoubtedly more cat-like with their elongated pupils.

"You have no idea how worried I was over you," he hissed lowly. "I'm sorry you didn't get your way for once, but you were _hurt,_ Marinette. And you _wouldn't let me help._ "

"I didn't need your help," she snapped back. He dropped her hand and she walked away from him, slightly proud of herself that she hadn't stammered in front of him once. But she could feel her cheeks embarrassingly turning red again as she thought about the weight of what she'd just found out.

Chat Noir was Adrien. Adrien was Chat Noir.

Marinette ran a hand down her face in a vain attempt to hide her blush and squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe this was all a dream. Yeah, the pain killers gave her a very vivid, very _real_ dream.

"You okay?" Alya asked her, and Marinette turned her head to look at her. "Your face is so red. What did Adrien want? Oh my god, did he—"

"No," she interrupted quickly. "It was nothing like that."

Alya's expression sobered when she saw that Marinette wasn't smiling. "Wait, what happened? Are you okay?" Her voice grew a bit louder and she turned to address Adrien, who was settling into his chair and pulling out textbooks. "Did you guys just have an argument?"

Marinette studied the way Adrien's shoulders tensed and she knew he was listening despite ignoring her friend. "It was nothing, I'll tell you _all about it later_ , alright?" She glared down at Adrien's back. Let him chew on _those_ words for a bit.

Alya shrugged. "You still gotta tell me in detail how you hurt your shoulder."

-x-

Alya linked her arm through Marinette's good one as Marinette quickly made her way towards the entrance of the school to leave for lunch.

"No way, girl," Alya laughed as Marinette frowned down at their arms. "You are not getting out of this one. I don't care what we do for lunch, I'll pay for yours, but you are giving me the _whole_ story." She glanced behind them and leaned towards Marinette, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. " _Including_ that little anecdote about Adrien."

Marinette looked behind them to see Adrien walking with Nino, but neither of the boys had noticed them. She wished she had a free hand to rub the headache out of her forehead. "C'mon," she sighed. "My parents are making lunch today."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Alya laughed, letting Marinette drag her as quickly from the school as she could. "What is your hurry?"

"I just don't want to make this a group lunch today," she grumbled.

When Alya was sure the boys couldn't see them anymore, she broke away from Marinette and slowed down, forcing Marinette to slow as well. "Did Adrien say something bad to you?"

"No, nothing like that." Marinette's jaw worked as she fought to find the words to tell her friend what had happened without lying. It killed her sometimes to keep so much of her life from Alya, to lie to the one girl who had tumbled into her life and stayed by her side. "I'm sorry about yesterday, by the way. I felt awful not being able to contact you to tell you I wasn't going to be there."

"Like I said, it's fine."

"My phone died," she mumbled the lie again, it tasting bitter in her mouth. "I felt so bad."

"Did you just, like, not pay attention and hit a pole or something?"

Marinette shook her head with a smile. "No, I didn't see a rock or something on the ground. My wheel stopped and I flipped over the whole thing. I landed on my arm funny."

"Oh! I'll bet you looked like Ladybug flipping through the air!" Alya decided enthusiastically. Marinette just laughed and held open the door for her friend to enter the bakery. Alya inhaled deeply. "I don't know how you can leave this place every day."

"It takes effort," Marinette nodded solemnly, playing along. She called into the bakery for her parents, leading Alya up to the kitchen.

Marinette spent the quick lunch telling Alya about them resetting her arm, how much it had hurt, and how she had wandered to the hospital alone. Because her phone was dead, of course. In reality it was because she had no way to explain to anyone how she had ended up on the opposite side of town in some random hotel lobby instead of headed for the ice rink.

"Alright, girl, let's go to your room and brainstorm for that project before," Alya hinted as they put their now-clean dishes away.

"What project?"

"The one _Adrien_ told you about this morning," Alya hinted through clenched teeth.

"Just don't be late getting back to school," her mother told her with a kiss on the cheek as she passed to return to the bakery below.

Marinette slowly led Alya up to her bedroom, dropping down unceremoniously into her desk chair, and she watched as Alya closed the door and pulled the other chair closer to her friend.

"Alright, spill," Alya demanded with a wave of her hand.

The longer Marinette thought back to the conversation with Adrien that morning, the harder she knew it was going to be to explain. And she couldn't—not really. Not enough to get it off her chest the way she wanted, the way she _needed_.

"This is a lot more than just what happened with Adrien this morning, isn't it," Alya guessed softly.

"I don't know…I can't…"

Alya slid her chair so she was sitting directly in front of Marinette and cupped the girl's cheeks so that she was forced to make eye contact.

"Marinette. Girl. Talk to me," Alya demanded gently. "I promise you, whatever it is; we can work it out together. Whatever is said will not leave this room. I swear."

"I can't," Marinette whimpered as her face crumpled. "I wish I could, Alya, but I can't. It's complicated."

"Tell me as much as you can then. Give me a hypothetical situation, _anything_. I want to help you." Alya sat up straight and crossed her legs as Marinette took a second to compose herself, looking around the room.

"I had a pen pal," she started quietly, latching onto the hypothetical suggestion. "I never knew his name, he never knew mine. Usernames." Alya nodded slowly. "We've talked back and forth for years. He became like a best friend to me. He's helped me through some things that I just couldn't go to anyone else about."

"Even me?" Alya asked quietly.

Marinette offered a small smile. "He was just detached enough from my life that he helped me with things I didn't want to get anyone else involved in."

"Okay," Alya replied, trying not to talk that admission personally. "So, what? You guys have a fight?"

Marinette shook her head, her face pinching again. "No. About a year after we first started talking, he asked to know who I was," she felt bad altering facts like this, but she could feel herself falling apart on the inside. "He admitted he was in love with me. And it was so silly to think about—how could you be in love with someone when you don't know who they really are?"

"It's their essence," Alya smiled. "He just sounds like a guy that loves you for who you are inside rather than what you look like."

Marinette's eyebrows furrowed and she shook her head. "No, that's not it. The things we talked about—I never gave myself away like that. We didn't talk about interests or normal things like that. It's hard to explain but I don't want to say what we talked about."

"Girl this is getting a little kinky," Alya muttered with a smirk, eliciting a half a giggle from her friend like she'd hoped.

"No, nothing like that either." Marinette thought for a second. "We talked a lot about Ladybug and Chat Noir, which is how I knew he lived in Paris at least. There was mention of schoolwork and having plans with friends, so I knew he was about my age. But other than that…not much."

"Alright, so what's the problem?"

"We both decided a long time ago to keep who we are a secret. It was just…better that way." Safer… "But yesterday he figured out who I was and confronted me at school."

"Because the boy is in love with you, and knowing you went to school with him he ignored your request to stay private."

"Yes," Marinette whimpered, thankful that her friend was catching onto her feelings immediately. "And I'm so embarrassed and…hurt and I feel like I shouldn't."

"How did he find out who you were?" Alya asked, holding up a hand.

"I told him last night that I dislocated my shoulder," she admitted. "It was stupid and too personal and I shouldn't have. I messed up big time."

Alya thought back through the events of the day, and she'd been next to her best friend through nearly all of it, helping her carry books and take notes. The only time anyone had her alone was…."Adrien," she muttered aloud. Her eyes widened when Marinette frowned. " _Adrien_?"

"Yes."

Alya let out a hysterical giggle before she caught herself. "Girl, why are you _upset_ over this? Adrien is in _love_ with you!"

"No!" she wailed, dropping her face into her good hand. "He's in love with L—with some anonymous girl he met online! He's in love with a _version_ of me. If he was in love with me it wouldn't have taken him _three years_ to see Marinette the way he is _now_."

Alya looked at her friend sympathetically. "Marinette, no. I'm sure that's not how it is at all." She scooted closer to Marinette. "I feel Like Adrien has feelings for you, Marinette, but the mystery of this girl he loves online was what was holding him back from asking you out. Finding out they were the _same person_ , imagine how freeing that must feel?"

"I don't know…"

"You love a guy whose identity you don't know, but you also have some feelings for a boy in school," she started to rationalize, holding up one hand. "On one hand, online-guy is _always_ there for you, and you guys have an amazing friendship, but you don't know who they really are so you can't really initiate a romantic relationship." She held up her other hand. "On the other hand, here's this gorgeous boy in school that you know in real life, but are afraid to initiate anything with because what if Online Guy changes his mind and was to meet in real life. And then, you find out it's the _same person_."

Marinette shook her head and Alya frowned, realizing that Marinette still didn't see it. "It just doesn't feel like that. It feels like he didn't see me as anything other than a good friend until he found out who I _also_ was."

"You'll never know if you keep avoiding him. You gotta talk to him about this, girl."

"I can't," she sighed, subconsciously running her hand up the strap of the sling. "It's stupid, I'm probably overreacting and I'll get over it soon."

Alya stood and put her hands on her hips. "Your feelings are _not_ stupid, and you _need_ to talk to Adrien. Regardless of what happens, you still want to be friends, right? Don't ruin that, too."

"I just don't want to talk to him right now."

"You don't have to do it _now_ ," Alya shrugged. "But just don't put it off too long, or you'll just make it harder. The next day or two?"

Marinette weighed that idea in her head. Yeah, she could give her feelings a day or two to sort themselves out. Besides, Alya had already planned a make-up outing for Saturday, which was only two days away. She could talk to him before then.

"Alright," she finally conceded.

"Good. Now. Let's get back to school. I can't afford to be late again."

-x-

Hours later, when the sun had set, Marinette found herself alone again. She felt numb from the pain medications the doctor had given her to take, and her dad had convinced her one wouldn't hurt to help her fall asleep that night.

She was slumped in her desk chair staring down at a work in progress sadly when she heard the familiar creek of the door above her head opening slowly. She frowned further down at the lump of fabric. She'd been trying to rip the seams out one-handed, but it was going very, very poorly. This was going to be a long recovery…

When she heard no more movement, she spun in her chair and looked up at the door. "I really don't want to talk right now, Chat Noir. I'm sorry."

"In general, or to me?" he called down softly, legs dangling down into her room.

"I don't know," she sighed, turning back towards her desk.

"Please don't be mad at me."

"I'm not mad."

"You literally said you were at school this morning," he reminded her, finally dropping down into the room. He walked around her and leaned back against her desk, crossing his arms. "I told you last night I had some suspicions about your true identity, and I've kept them to myself for nearly three years. But this…" he frowned at the sling. "I just couldn't ignore that."

"You didn't even try," she mumbled.

Chat pushed off the desk to crouch beside her, gripping the armrests and spinning her to face him. Marinette was surprised by the intensity of his gaze, the fire in his eyes and how tense his jaw muscles were. He almost looked…pissed…

"We are a team, are we not?" he ground out, fighting himself to stay gentle and calm. "I hate secrets and I've done my best to not keep anything from you. You've had your share—" Marinette's head tilted in defiance and she opened her mouth to argue, but Chat cut her off. "— _for good reasons_ , but the only one I've leveled with you on is identities. You wanted yours kept private and I understood—I _still_ understand. But you put me in a hard place when you forced me to leave my partner hurt like that."

"It's what I wanted."

"What about what I wanted?"

"It wasn't about you!" she snapped in disbelief. "Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but not everything is about _Adrien Agreste._ "

Chat's eyes narrowed at her and a shallow pain filled his chest. Marinette had something against Adrien? Against _him_? He pursed his lips in thought for a second before straightening, looking down at Marinette now. "New scenario. An akuma hurts me—things are broken. I can't move without screaming. What do you do?"

"Chat—"

"What do you do?" he asked slowly. "Your partner is hurt, Ladybug. What are you going to do about it?"

"Purify the akuma and reverse everything," she ground out. She only realized how close they'd been when he rolled his eyes and pushed away from her, standing up straight.

"And if that doesn't work?"

"Chat."

"Say it," he challenged lightly. "Say it out loud. Say you would leave me there. Say you would leave your hurt partner—"

"If that's what you _asked_ of me," she finally snapped in a display of emotion Chat Noir had never witnessed from Marinette before. Sure, he knew she could be emotive and passionate, but her cheeks were red, he eyes glassy, dark brows pulled down to narrow her eyes. "If you wanted me to leave, I would have."

Chat scoffed. "Really? Because knowing you, knowing _Marinette_ , you wouldn't have. You would have talked me out of it, tried to reason with me until I could get the help I needed. Because that's how you are."

She knew deep down he was right. She would have told him he was being stupid and that it was only her, she would be the only one who knew, and it wasn't like the whole of Paris knew his identity. Just his partner. She'd wholly regret it later, feelings becoming similar to what she felt now, but initially her mission would be to get him healed.

"Claws in."

Marinette looked up at the blond, now clad in jeans and a dark long sleeve shirt standing in front of her. "It's not the end of the world."

"It's not," she conceded. "But it doesn't excuse the fact that this could be very, very dangerous."

"So is everything else we do," he rebuked calmly, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Marinette just gave him a tired look through her lashes. Adrien turned away from her to pull her other chair over to her desk and dropped into it. Their knees were almost touching and Marinette could feel her cheeks heating up at the proximity. She practically cursed herself silently. How many times had they gotten this close over the years and she'd learned to control herself, to be okay?

Never alone, though. Never one-on-one.

Her eyes slowly slid up his from their knees, loving the way his jeans sat on him, the way his cotton shirt looked on him. She could see some semblance of muscles beneath the sleeves, and she'd always attributed it to him being a model, but now it made more sense that they'd been muscles earned through fighting akuma.

"I'm sorry about what I said to Alya, I wasn't going to tell her," she confessed, distracting herself. She was feeling embarrassed that she'd stooped to such levels of immaturity in the first place over that.

Adrien just shrugged a shoulder. "I know you. You wouldn't do something that stupid."

"Gee, thanks," she muttered, spinning in her chair a little and playing with the seam ripper in her hand. "Glad to know you still think revealing identities is stupid."

Adrien rolled his eyes. "You know why it's different."

Marinette only raised an eyebrow and dropped it, biting her lip to keep from revealing Alya and Nino's sometimes-secret second identities. If she couldn't protect her own identity, she was sure as hell going to protect her friends'.

"You know," Adrien began, rolling his chair closer to hers so that their knees touched, his bumping into hers on the outsides. He took her hand in his, stilling her fingers as they prodded the spikes on the end of the seam ripper. "I'm really glad it turned out to be you."

Marinette choked back a groan and pulled her hand from his suddenly. "You don't have to pretend."

"Pretend what?"

"You never liked Marinette they way you liked Ladybug."

Adrien frowned. "But you _are_ Ladybug."

"You had no interest in Marinette until you found out I was Ladybug," she whispered to her lap. "Anytime I talked to Chat Noir, I would tell you about this boy in school. Whether I was Marinette or Ladybug. Chat Noir only ever talked about Ladybug. And you?" She looked up at Adrien, tilting her head as she studied him, finding nothing in his eyes but pure concern. "Adrien never noticed me."

Adrien sat, staring blankly at Marinette, and then it dawned on her and she could feel her face heating up and knew it was probably bright red. Oh, man, he hadn't figured it out. He hadn't figured it out, but she'd just voluntarily ousted herself. She was not fit to have a secret identity anymore.

She dropped her face into her hand to hide her embarrassment. Thoughts froze in her head and she was beyond her typical ramblings.

Adrien didn't seem to know what to say, either. "Me?"

"Oh, geeze," she groaned, dropping her face into her hand. She felt like curling into a ball and disappearing forever. Surely wherever Tikki was hiding in the room, she was hiding out of embarrassment. Some superhero she was. "This is getting so, so messed up."

"Nino said…" Adrien started slowly. "I was told years ago that you had moved on."

"It was a little crush _years_ ago," Marinette managed to assure around a tongue that suddenly felt ten times too big for her mouth. But whether she was trying to assure him or herself, she wasn't sure. "I value our friendship, Adrien."

He let out a single, solid laugh. "We _are_ friends," he nodded. "And I like being your friend. But I _love_ being your partner."

"Ladybug over Marinette."

"In your head, is Ladybug like a separate entity from you?" he asked, voice taking on a new tone she'd never heard before. An irritated, but curious one. "Because without _you_ Ladybug doesn't exist. You understand that, right? Everything Ladybug _is_ comes from you."

"Ladybug is more than I am—"

"So you're saying Chat Noir is more than I am?" he asked gently, noticing immediately how her eyes started to dance around the room, looking anywhere but at him.

She was silent, and he felt a rock forming in his throat at his next question, trying hard to force it out calmly. "Let me take you out."

"On…on a _date_?" she asked dumbly, then immediately wanted to smack herself.

Adrien smiled at the disbelieving look on her face. "Yes."

"Me," she clarified.

"Yes. Marinette, brilliant fashion designer and secret savior of Paris. I want to take her on a date." He watched as her face smoothed out, but a frown still tugged the corner of her lips downward. "Let me show you that I want _you_ , not anyone else."

"And how would you prove that?" she challenged with a raised eyebrow. "How do I know you aren't settling?"

Adrien stood and shoved his hands in his pockets, staring down at her with one eyebrow raised. "I am _not settling_ , Marinette. You are not someone that _anyone_ is _settling_ for," he said forcefully but with a sly smile. "Just think back to every encounter you as Marinette have had with Chat Noir. I could have visited any girl in all of Paris. All the time, any of the times I visited you. We spent a lot of time up on that balcony of yours as Chat Noir and Marinette."

"Yeah," she agreed slowly, following his pointed finger to the door overhead.

"Any girl in Paris, but I was drawn to you." He watched as Marinette mulled this over, looking down at her desk where her unfinished work laid. He stepped towards her after a few beats and put a gentle finger under her chin, guiding her eyes back up to his. "I'm going to pick you up tomorrow at six if that's alright."

"Yes," she breathed. "That's fine." He leaned down quickly to press a kiss to her cheek, pulling away to see her face bright red now, and he fought the urge to laugh.

"I'm glad you're okay, though," he said seriously, but he couldn't help the smile on his face. "You really had me worried last night."

"Well, it'll heal. I just might be out of commission for a few weeks," she grumbled, looking down at her sling. "The doctor said a few months, but that I can get back to regular activities in three weeks."

"That doesn't include superhero activities," he laughed. "We have plenty of allies. Queen Bee and I can handle it for now. We'll keep you sidelined until the akuma is free for capture."

Marinette sighed unhappily. "There's always Rena Rouge and Carapace, too, I guess."

"Having friends makes things easy, huh?"

She tried not to read into that statement too much. She didn't know if she could handle him telling her he'd figured out who Alya and Nino were sometimes, too. "You're insufferable," she sighed. "Just know, forever, that this isn't how I wanted things."

Adrien smiled sadly. "I know. But it is what it is, and I think it's for the best. It'll make things easier for us in the long run. We're old enough to handle it now."

"I guess."

"Plagg," Adrien called, glancing over his shoulder into the rest of the room.

"What?" came the exasperated sigh from Marinette's closet. Marinette couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips.

"You two better be keeping it PG in there."

Marinette looked scandalized. "Just what kind of kwami do you think Tikki _is_?"

"It's not her I'm worried about," he grumbled down to her. Towards the closet, "C'mon, Plagg. Claws out."

"You can stay longer if you want," she mumbled when his green eyes trained back on her.

"What do _you_ want, Princess?" he asked gently.

"Oh, _now_ you want to know what I want—"

"Marinette." Chat Noir grabbed her good hand and pulled her to her feet so that she was closer to him, his arm gently wrapped around her waist. "I'm sorry."

"I know," she whispered, looking up at him and wondering once again when he'd gotten so tall. "And as much as I hate to admit it, you're probably right. It'll make a few things easier." Her tone changed a bit, her expression souring. "But no way in hell is Chloe _ever_ knowing who Ladybug is."

Chat threw his head back and laughed at that. "Alright, I'll level with you on that one."

"No, you have to _swear_ to me, Adrien Agreste."

"Ooh, full names."

"I'm serious."

Chat's hand trailed lightly down her wounded shoulder, and his smile faltered. "I swear to you, I won't be the one to tell her your secret. I'm not going to tell anyone."

"Thank you," she said, bouncing up on her toes to peck his cheek. "Now go before my parents find out I snuck a boy in my room."

"This is _hardly_ the first time—"

"Chat," she hissed with a giggle, pushing him towards the ladder.

"Alright," he sighed. Lifting her good hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles gently. "You have my number. You can text me if you decide you're lonely. Otherwise I'll see you tomorrow in class?"

"Yeah," she nodded, and watched as he shot up the ladder and out of her room.

Tikki immediately flew from the closet and nudged her cheek gently. "See, I told you, everything always works out in the end."

"Does it?"

Marinette's quiet doubt worried Tikki and had her frowning. "Yes, I like to believe so."

"I don't know, Tikki. I still feel weird about Chat Noir being Adrien and suddenly asking me out like that—" Marinette ranted, her voice quickening. She dropped down onto her bed and gently lay back with a groan.

Tikki was suddenly above her, looking determined. "I have known about Adrien since almost the beginning, Marinette. And he's right! Any girl in Paris and he visited _you_."

"You think he had feelings for me as Marinette, too?" she asked softly, eyes skimming the bare walls of her room. They'd once held magazine cutouts and clippings of Adrien, but when she'd tried to force herself to move on, she'd thrown them away in the effort.

"I do," Tikki nodded. "I think he had feelings for Marinette _and_ Ladybug. You can love more than one person, you know."

"Maybe," she sighed.

"No!" Tikki argued, landing beside Marinette's head. "Marinette, you have loved Adrien all this time. But you also loved Chat Noir, right?"

"In a way," she said slowly. "Yeah."

"And you had feelings for Luka—"

"That was different, Tikki," Marinette sighed, sitting up and looking down at her kwami.

"But it just proves my point, Marinette," Tikki said with a grin, stretching her arms out wide. "There are so many different types of love, and someone isn't limited to loving just one person. Maybe the love he had for Ladybug, and the love he had for Marinette—maybe it combined when he found out you were the same person!"

Oh, sweet wishful thinking little thing. Marinette couldn't help the way her heart skipped a beat at the thought, though. She couldn't deny that finding out Chat Noir was Adrien didn't make her love him any less, and finding out Adrien was Chat Noir…she felt like the love she held for the two entities was muddy and unclear, a fog in her face. Was this what an identity crisis was like?

-x-

Marinette couldn't help but be distracted the next morning as she flipped through her notebook, trying to decipher Alya's cursive notes from the previous day. Her eyes flicked up to Adrien's empty chair for the millionth time that morning and Alya finally sighed loudly, gaining her friend's full attention.

"What?"

" _What_?" Alya groaned. "Girl, you're so spacey this morning. Adrien isn't coming to school today, _remember_? It's that big holiday shoot that's going to take like, three days." Alya flipped her own notebook shut agitatedly. "Lucky _he_ got to take the science test early and won't tell me what questions are on it."

"I forgot," Marinette blinked, glancing down at the empty space a final time.

"Yeah, well," Alya dropped her pen on the desk and slouch down in the chair dramatically. "I guess I can't blame you. The last day or two have been pretty crazy for you, huh?"

Marinette frowned and fidgeted in her chair. "Oh, before I forget to tell you, something…happened last night…"

Alya visibly switched into reporter mode, sensing the gossip coming. The change in her was immediate. "What happened?" she demanded. Marinette watched her eyes light up as pieces clicked together. Her voice dropped. "Did you talk to Adrien?"

"Sort of?" Marinette tried shyly, knowing that when the news of their date that night broke, that was it. It was official. It was real. And people would find out about it. Unlike her identity to Chat, she wanted control of how this got out. Because it _would_ get out. You don't date a famous teen model and keep it a secret for long.

Oh, god. _Date_. She was going on a _date_ with _Adrien_. Were they _dating_? How many dates until people would say that?

"Mari _nette_!" Alya snapped her fingers in her face, and Marinette blinked a few times to clear her head, adjusting the strap to her sling subconsciously to keep herself busy. "What did he say?"

"Uhm, we talked about what happened and some other stuff that needed to be said."

"And…?" Alya prompted, sensing more.

"He's taking me out tonight," she said lowly, leaning towards her a little.

"A _date_?" Alya gasped, shock quickly turning to glee on her face. "Oh my gosh, girl I'm so excited for you!"

"'Bout time," Nino shot over his shoulder with a quick smirk.

"Stop eavesdropping," Alya snapped, throwing her pen at him.

He laughed and turned back around in his seat. "You guys aren't exactly being quiet." He jerked his chin towards the long table next to his and the girls followed his gaze. Marinette immediately whipped back around in her seat, folding into herself. She could feel Chloe's intense glare on the side of her face.

"Can we help you?" Alya called over to her, the voices in the room quieting around them.

" _Help_ me?" Chloe sneered. "You can _help me_ understand why Adrien would ask _her_ out…"

Alya rolled her eyes. "And just when I thought she was becoming a tolerable person," she grumbled to herself, deciding not to answer her.

Marinette took a slow, deep breath and looked back up to Chloe with a kind smile, filling her head with thoughts of Queen Bee and all the help she'd been over the years. "You'll have to ask Adrien, I don't know myself, really."

Chloe huffed and spun back in her seat.

Alya pulled her phone from her pocket and checked it as their teacher entered the room. Marinette sighed, feeling her own phone vibrating in her purse at her ankle. "Girl the group chat is blowing _up_."

"I can tell," she sighed, leaning into her good hand, elbow propped up on the desk. "Is nothing in my life a secret anymore?"

"Only how he asked you, but I promise I'll get that from you at lunch," Alya chirped quietly, opening her notebook to a clean page.

Marinette sighed again and resisted the urge to check her phone. Adrien was a part of the group chat, too, so now he would be well aware that everyone else knew. But she couldn't bring herself to feel bad, or keep the small smirk off her face. Served him right.

-x-

Marinette was glad Alya hadn't taken it personally when she'd rejected the other girl's offer to help her get ready for her date.

"I mean, not that you need help picking something out to wear—" Alya had started, but Marinette had held up a hand to stop her.

"I'll be alright. I just need a little time to myself to think. Everything is just changing so fast I…"

Alya had smiled kindly before pulling her into a gentle hug. "I get it. Just call me if you need anything."

She was especially grateful since when five-thirty rolled around, she was standing in her underwear in the middle of a pile of clothes, pulling her own hair out.

"Marinette calm down," Tikki commanded through a laugh, lounging on her pillow on Marinette's bed. "I'm sure he'll like whatever you'll wear. You know he's a fan of your work."

"That's the problem, Tikki!" Marinette exclaimed. "He'll be happy with _anything_."

"Why is that a problem? You're really over thinking this…"

"I want him to see _Marinette_ , future fashion designer. I want him to look at me with renewed amazement every time I put on a special outfit for him, I want him to be wowed more and more every time," she cried dramatically. She turned her head when she stopped her frantic flailing to look at the blank wall that had once housed an embarrassing amount of magazine cut-outs of her model-classmate. "I shouldn't have taken them down."

Tikki giggled at her deadpan tone, before both sobered at a roar echoing outside the windows. Marinette leaped over a pile of dresses and slammed into her window, pushing it open to lean and peak down the street. Sure enough, a cloud of thick dust twisted up towards the sun a couple blocks away.

"Then again, you do look nice in red and black," Tikki teased, flying out past her shoulder to view the minor devastation herself.

"Of course he does," she sighed, pulling herself back into her room long enough to pull on the jumper she'd worn to classes. "I can't exactly _do_ much like this."

"He knows. Where are you going?"

Marinette sighed, looking up the ladder to the hatch in her ceiling. It was going to be a long climb. Tikki helped by pushing open the door as she slowly hobbled her way up. She let out a sigh and dropped down onto the lounge chair on the roof, feet tapping anxiously as she waited.

"Marinette, maybe we should just go back inside where it's safer," Tikki advised when another puff of smoke billowed up just a little bit closer.

"He'll be here," she grumbled. "They need me."

"Chat Noir can handle himself."

"He can't purify the akuma, Tikki," Marinette argued, voice a bit harsher than she'd intended.

"No, but he can capture it," Tikki soothed, unaffected, and she landed on Marinette's shoulder just as Chat landed lithely on the railing in front of Marinette.

"Princess," he greeted with a grin. "Your ride is here."

"Quicker than an Uber," she teased lightly, standing and taking his outstretched hand. "How are we going to do this?"

Chat hoisted her up onto the railing with him, keeping her balanced and against his chest. He smirked down at her as her cheeks warmed. "We'll figure it out. You can't fight."

"We know that," Tikki chimed in, quickly moving to hold onto the strap of Marinette's dress at her shoulder.

Once both were secured with him, he pushed off the roof and swung them towards the commotion in the streets. But as they got closer, Chat scrambled to dodge a shiny spike thrown at them by an amorphous silver blob several blocks down the street. Marinette let out a squeal as she fell towards the street, instincts making her want to try and flick out a yo-yo that wasn't there.

"Sorry, I'm sorry," Chat grunted when he snatched her out of the air, ducking them into an alleyway. He placed her on her feet and she immediately tucked into herself and began pacing. "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting projectiles."

"I can't do this, I can't _do this_ ," Marinette whispered to him in a rush, fingers digging into his elbow.

"Calm down, Marinette," Chat grunted, scooping her up out of the alleyway and vaulting them towards the top of the building. He set her on her feet a few paces from the edge of the building, and she immediately started pacing again. "Marinette."

"I can't do this," she repeated. "I need to be out there helping you guys. I—"

"You wouldn't be much of a help," Adrien replied bluntly, crossing his arms. Marinette blushed at the way his suit clung tightly to the bulging muscles of his arms when he did that.

She cleared her throat, trying to get her mind back on the akuma at hand. "Thanks for the words of encouragement…"

Chat rolled his eyes and stepped up to the front of her, lifting her chin up to look down at her, forcing their eyes to meet. "You know what I meant," he whispered. "Stay here, try not to get into trouble, and I'll come get you when it's over, alright?"

Marinette slowly rose on her toes, and she watched as he reacted instantaneously, his head tilted and lids shutting. "Take me to Master Fu," she breathed before their lips could touch and she pulled away with a teasing grin.

"What?" He blinked at her, surprised. "No, you need to stay here—"

"I need to get the fox miraculous to Rena, or you and Queen Bee are on your own." Marinette watched him closely, hoping he would just do it. She couldn't climb down the fire escape herself, so he could very well trap her on the roof if he wanted.

One side of his lips turned upward. "You _can_ just tell me who Rena is and—"

"Not a chance, Kitty Chat," she interrupted airily. "You already stole my secret identity from me, I'm not letting you get hers, too."

Chat's eyes practically rolled into the back of his head as he stepped away from her, his head lolling backwards. "I'm sorry," he groaned, straightening and holding out his hand. "Come on. Let's do this quick. And try not to hurt yourself, alright?"

Marinette grinned, ignoring the blush rising to her cheeks as she wrapped her good arm around his neck. Chat bent and swept her feet out from under her and took off, leaving her with a chaste kiss to the cheek at Master Fu's doorstep.

-x-

"Where the heck is _Ladybug_?" Queen Bee managed between breaths. She helped Chat Noir to his feet and they dodged another spike thrown towards them, dashing behind a car.

"She's a little preoccupied."

"Oh, like, _what_ is more important than _this_?" she snapped, gesturing over her shoulder vaguely towards the morphing metallic blob of an akuma hovering above the street behind them.

An orange blur dropped to the ground in front of them, making Queen Bee jump. "Seriously, I'm getting worried."

"She's _fine_ ," Chat Noir pressed, the irony of saying that not wasted on him. But if Rena had joined them, then Marinette _was_ alright. "She just got a little hurt last week. She's benched for a bit."

"That explains the cryptic note on the miraculous," the fox muttered thoughtfully. "Carapace?"

"Not joining us this time," Chat mumbled, checking a car mirror to see down the street.

"Then how the heck are we supposed to cleanse the akuma?" Queen Bee glanced frantically between the other two.

"Girl, calm down," Rena Rouge sighed. "I'm sure there's a plan."

"There's always a plan," Chat smirked with a wink. "Ladybug is hidden, she'll come capture the akuma when we get it free. Or are you ladies telling me the three of us can't disarm one little akuma on our own?"

That sent the two girls into an appropriate outrage, and Chat just gestured vaguely over his shoulder towards the akuma.

"Shall we?"

It took them forty miserable minutes to figure out how the amorphous silver blob worked and to rip the akuma from the beaker in the civilian's hand. Chat was pretty impressed with how Ladybug cleansed the akuma one handed—with her non-dominant hand, even. She quickly made her way down from the top of the building to meet them on the street, making her way slowly towards them.

"Ladybug—" he began to protest, seeing her right arm straightened and at her side as opposed to bent across her chest like it _should have been_. He guessed the sling would have been too much, the other girls might have had that huge clue to her real identity like he had. Chat worried for a beat that that was what she was truly concerned around.

"Pound it!" again, he met her fist half-heartedly. "Great work guys. Sorry I can't be of much help."

"You were hurt?" Queen Bee asked, skeptically looking over Ladybug but finding no immediate signs she was injured.

"Yeah, I—"

"It doesn't matter," Chat Noir interrupted. "This is just how things are going to have to be for a few more weeks."

"We can handle it," Rena said cheerily, before glancing down at the necklace pinging at her collarbone. "Maybe I should just keep this for the time being?"

Ladybug looked like she was about to protest, her eyes darting to Chat Noir, wide and slightly panicked.

She was going to give him another earful. "For now," he pressed. "As soon as Ladybug is fit for duty, we'll need it back."

Rena Rouge gave him a grin and a haste salute. "Then if you guys don't mind, I'll catch you later."

"Rena—" Ladybug tried to call out to her, lifting a hand uselessly as the fox disappeared beyond the rooftops. She sighed and rubbed her eyes, turning back to the other two. "I can't believe you just did that."

"I knew you'd be mad."

"But you did it anyways."

"Hear me out," he argued, holding up his hands in a placating manner. "This way there's less you need to worry about. You can stay hidden until we need you." Queen Bee's eyebrows rose at the implication, and it had Chat backpedaling. "Not that we don't need you the whole time, I just don't want—you need to be—"

"Oh you poor thing," Bee sighed, frowning mockingly. "We get what you mean." She turned to Ladybug, fingers brushing the clip in her hair as it pinged. "If you really are injured—"

"I am—"

"—then we'll take care of things until you're fit to fight."

"I appreciate that, Queen Bee," Ladybug offered up a small smile. "And trust me when I say I would _not_ want things to go this way if I had any other options."

"I know," she smirked, glancing between the two of them. "I just like messing with you."

"Go," Chat sighed. "Unless you want us to know—"

Queen Bee flipped up into the air, disappearing from their sight and leaving the two alone on the street.

"Take me home," Ladybug mumbled.

Chat frowned, crossing his arms and looking her over. "Why do I have to take you home? Your legs still work."

Ladybug's eyebrows shot up in surprised and she fought to keep the smirk off her face. "Well, maybe I'll just go have dinner with my parents. See you later, Chat Noir." Like a breath, Ladybug vanished and Marinette was walking down the empty street, Tikki flitting around her quietly. He was relieved to see that her arm was now back in the sling, but her words suddenly hit him.

"Hey, wait!" he called after her, springing forward and collecting her in his arms in one fluid motion. His staff pushed them up above the buildings and Marinette let out a breath of surprise as they peaked in the air.

"You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days, you know."

"Let's save that milestone for _after_ our first date?" Chat suggested with a sly grin as he propelled them towards her balcony, Tikki flitting closely behind.

"Is that your idea of fun, Kitty Chat?"

"Pawsibly," he winked before landing and setting her gently on her feet. His hands hovered above her. "Alright?"

"I'm fine," she grinned. Marinette adjusted the strap and took a step away from him, glancing over her shoulder as Tikki help flatted out the back. "You should go, there's this boy in school and he's coming to take me out."

"Yeah, well I passed him on the street," Chat replied, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "He said he might be a little late. He got caught up in the akuma attack."

Marinette rolled her eyes at an excuse she might have believed before. She had, once upon a time, and the idea of it made her giggle. "Sounds like him. Goodnight, Chat Noir."

"Goodnight, Princess." Chat flipped up onto the railing before sliding down into a crouch. "He might be half an hour, maybe?"

"Plenty of time," Marinette chirped as she pulled open the hatch to her room.

"Need help getting down?"

"Nope!"

"Don't let her hurt herself, Tikki," Chat sighed, waiting for the kwami to giggle and node before bidding him goodnight as well. He waited until the door shut before taking off for his own house, a new anxiety building up in his chest again at the thought of a _date_. With _Marinette_.

"You're so hopeless," Plagg grumbled when Adrien released the transformation and immediately returned to digging through his closet.

"You don't understand, Plagg, she's a _designer_. My outfit has to be perfect or I'm going to make her look bad," Adrien called out.

"I hope Tikki doesn't have to deal with crap like this…"


	2. That One Time She Dated Luka

**So I have a bunch of oneshots written for Ladybug that I never posted because….I don't know why. But I'll just put them all collectively in this story since everyone seemed to really like this one. I might eventually write their date from the previous chapter ;) They WON'T be in chronological order, though. So I'll probably just list the ages and where it relates in the storyline?**

 **The last chapter they were seventeen/eighteen. This one they're fifteen/sixteen.**

He never really noticed Marinette _like that_ until maybe a year and a half, two years after they met. They were fifteen, going on sixteen, and he'd gotten used to her presence within the group as the other "third wheel." She was still shy and sweet, but he noticed her confidence around him gaining traction slowly as she was able to joke with him just a hair more than before. The stutter was still prominent most of the time, but he noticed when she was feeling particularly sassy, she'd whip at quip out at him without a single misstep.

But when Marinette had started seeing someone, he noticed it big time. He was now the odd one out in their outings. Nino had Alya, Ivan had Mylene, Juleka and Rose. It had always been him and Marinette as the odd ones out, so he never felt it like this before. It didn't hit him until the first time she didn't join them.

"Where's Marinette?" he asked, looking around at the others around him.

"My girl has a _date_ ," Alya beamed, and he didn't miss the look that passed over her face for a second. She looked almost smug.

"With who?" he caught himself blurting out before he could control his mouth.

"My brother," Juleka sighed. "It's kind of gross if you ask me."

"Why, because he's older?" Nino laughed. "He's only seventeen, how much more mature is he? I don't think it's a bad match."

"No, because he's my _brother_ …"

"They're so cute together," Rose gushed, clasping her hands together and bouncing on her toes. "We helped her get ready, she's adorable. She wore this pretty lavender skirt with a pink polka-dotted blouse tucked in. And _oh_ the black cropped jacket that she made to match the boots!" She shoved her sulking girlfriend gently. "Be happy for Marinette and your brother, Juleka!"

Juleka only sighed.

"It's not like they're getting _married_ ," Alya laughed.

Adrien blinked at the group around him, all talking about how excited and happy they were for Marinette, but he felt strange, because he didn't share the sentiment. He _wanted_ to be excited for her, but couldn't bring himself to do much more than smile politely. The whole evening was pockmarked by her noticeable absence, and he found himself wishing he was at home, mindlessly following his father's commands in solitude.

"Dude, jealous much?" Nino whispered, jabbing him lightly in the ribs as the group started to migrate towards the restaurant for lunch. "You've been quieter than usual."

"I'm not jealous," he muttered back, hands jammed in the pockets of his jacket. "Just thinking."

"About what, dude?" Nino asked, a knowing smirk on his face that Adrien wished he could wipe off with a witty comment. If his mask was on, he was sure the increased confidence from the miraculous would have given him the perfect retort.

"I don't know, just the thought of Marinette dating someone. Never really crossed my mind. She's so…quiet."

"Around you, maybe," Nino chuckled. "You know she had a thing for you, right?"

"What?" Adrien's eyes darted up towards his friend, his mind reeling. He caught on pretty quickly that his social skills were seriously lacking, and he was quickly trying to scramble to keep up and learn all the behavioral norms and social cues that the others had had since preschool to learn. While Chloe had made it painfully obvious of her feelings towards him, it still took him months to figure it out.

"Man, I _knew_ you didn't know," Nino grinned. "Alya swears Marinette is over it, so it won't be weird unless you make it weird. Was just curious if you ever caught on."

"Who else knew?" he dared to ask.

He snorted. "Everyone but you, bro."

"But she's over it?" he clarified slowly.

Nino lifted a shoulder. "S'what Alya claims, and she knows Marinette the best, I guess…"

"Well that's…" What? He couldn't think of a good word for it. Good? No, he honestly felt a little disappointed. He changed direction instead of finishing that thought, or dwelling on what that disappointment meant. "She finally seems comfortable around me at least."

"Might have something to do with it," Nino shrugged, holding the door to the restaurant open for his friend. "But you never know, sometimes you can reignite old feelings."

The wink Nino sent him as he passed made Adrien want to turn around and head home. "Dude, she should have said something to me, that's all I'm saying. I can't help what I don't know."

"So you're saying you would have asked her out?" Adrien jumped as Alya appeared next to him and she laughed at the startled expression. "Sorry, but you boys aren't as quiet as you think you are."

"You just have that psycho journalist hearing, babe," Nino grumbled, pushing her by both shoulders towards the table. "Leave him alone."

"I mean, hypothetically—"

"I don't know," Adrien cut her off gently. "We'll never know now." He frowned down at the menu in his hands now, letting the others fall into gentle chatter as they waited for their server. He had never wanted to be alone more than right then. And he didn't even know why.

-x-

Lucky for him—as scarce as that luck was—it was a patrol day. After a year or so, they'd decided to run the city three times a week for several reasons. They were getting tired of sitting around, waiting for Hawkmoth to make a move. So they tried to figure out where he was operating from. Also, it gave them time to scope the city and make sure all was well while keeping themselves as fine tuned as they could between akuma—which varied constantly. Their longest pause had been two months; their shortest was only a few hours.

They always met at the top of the tower when the evening lights came to life. He was lying across a beam on his stomach, his arms and legs dangling off on either side.

"Aw, what's the matter, Kitty?" Ladybug moved to sit next to him. He didn't even lift his head to look at her. "Tired?"

"No," he sighed. "I don't know. I've just been in a _meh_ mood lately."

"Why?" she asked, cocking her head. She swung her legs and looked down at the ground beneath them. The sun was setting behind the buildings and it cast long, dark shadows across the square where people were hurrying to head home for the night. "Something happen?"

"Nothing that should be significant to _me_ ," he grumbled vaguely, keeping to their unspoken code of giving away nothing too personal. He pushed himself upright, facing her and straddling the beam. "Does it make me a bad person if I'm not happy for someone?"

Ladybug frowned. "I mean, as long as you're not hoping something _bad_ happens to them, I don't see how that could make you a bad person." She looked away in thought, her lips pursing. "There are a ton of reasons you wouldn't be happy for someone, maybe what they're happy about isn't healthy, or isn't good."

Chat Noir averted his eyes when she turned back to him. "It's nothing like that. Everyone else is happy for her but I just can't bring myself to feel the same."

Ladybug smirked knowingly. "Her? Did a lady friend find a man that wasn't the smooth talking kitty cat?"

This at least brought a small smile to his face. "It's nothing like that, I don't have feelings for her like that." But as soon as the words left his mouth, he knew that wasn't quite right. He'd sure as hell been feeling _something._ He didn't visit her as Chat Noir because he was lonely….well, at first it _was_ , but after a while it turned into something else. When had it turned into something else?

But Ladybug didn't catch the immediate chaos in him. "Well then, why aren't you happy for her?"

"I don't know," he sighed, standing. "I'll get over it, trust me. It's no big deal."

"Aw, are you just hormonal?" she giggled.

Chat rolled his eyes. "No, I'm fine."

Ladybug hopped to her feet then, decidedly making it her mission that night to cheer him back up. "Alright then, Kitty Cat. Let's go do our jobs. Besides, I thought I was the only girl for you," she said with a sassy smirk and a wink before jumping off the tower.

Chat Noir couldn't help the smirk that slid onto his face as he vaulted off the tower after her. The nights where their patrol turned into a game of superhero tag were his favorites…

And those were the patrols he looked forward to. Heck, even when an akuma popped up and he got a chance to banter with his Ladybug proved to be a mood booster for him. He still enjoyed his outings with his friends—his father was becoming more and more lenient as he proved he would work harder at his shoots and shows with this new incentive—but as time went on, he began to feel like an outcast among his own friends.

Luka joined them a few times in the months since that first date. It was odd, but he genuinely tried to be happy for her, and he could tell Nino and Alya were making an effort to keep him included, but they couldn't help the odd numbers sometimes. For a short moment, he considered inviting Chloe on one of their outings, but decided that would only cause drama.

He did, however, find himself not-so-accidentally planning to hang out with Chloe in place of the usual gang a few times, just to breathe. She understood and now he was aware why. She'd known about Marinette's little crush, and since they had tried the dating thing and it had crashed and burned spectacularly, she was making an attempt to at least rekindle a friendship.

She was his first friend, after all. And he couldn't ignore the letters they'd sent each other as children.

"Where's Sabrina?" he asked as he entered the room.

"She had a family thing this weekend, she left school early."

"Must be nice," he muttered.

"They're going to get suspicious if you keep ditching them and coming over here," she'd muttered, leaned back casually on her couch with her legs pulled up in front of her. She picked at the chipping polish on her nails and frowned.

"Suspicious of what?" he mumbled, dropping his school bag on the floor to take a seat on the chair across from her.

Chloe gave him a look. "Please, I thought you were getting better at this social stuff."

Adrien rolled his eyes and tilted his head back to look at the glittering chandelier over their heads. "I am, I just…need a change of pace every once in a while. You're my friend, too."

"Whatever," she cooed. "Just don't blame me if they think you're avoiding Marinette."

He leveled a look at her, unamused. "I'm not avoiding Marinette."

"And _my_ dad's not the mayor of Paris," Chloe scoffed before her voice turned softer. It was a new tone for her, one he noticed when she'd become Queen Bee a while back, but one she only started using towards him after their break up. "Look, I know it's bothering you to see her with Luka. Trust me, it's weird."

"It's not weird," he defended, crossing his arms and letting himself slump down into the seat.

"It is a little," she said with a wince. "Why does a senior want to date a sophomore? And one of his sister's friends, at that." She shrugged. "It's a little odd to me."

"It's none of your concern."

"And it's none of _yours_ , yet, here we are," Chloe declared with a grin, throwing her arms out. "Seriously, Adrien. It's not a big deal. It's a little _thing_. Just for some fun."

"People _do_ that?" he asked with a single raised brow. "Sounds more like toying with emotions."

"Neither of them thinks it's serious," Chloe laughed.

Adrien's mind rewound to the couple of times Luka joined them on their trips around the city. His hand in hers, the light blush that blossomed on her cheeks when he would glance down at her or poke her nose. "Do they?" he asked her softly.

"Well, if she doesn't she'll find out."

"Chloe," he sighed, exasperated.

"If it hurts, it hurts, Adrien," she argued. "It's how we grow. You taught me _that_."

"Sorry…"

"Let's go get food and then I'll drop you off at home." She stood and then paused. "Just promise me you won't interfere, Adrien."

"Why?"

Chloe help up her hands innocently as Adrien stood and collected his bag. "I'm not saying this because I don't like Marinette, I'm saying this because she needs to learn sooner or later, and sooner is better."

"But you _don't_ like Marinette," he pointed out bluntly, following down the hall.

"Yeah," she drawled, "but I like you and you're obviously worried about her."

"I'm not worried," he argued lightly.

"No," she mused, letting him push the front door open for her, finger innocently at her lips. "That's not the right word for it. _Jealous_ is more accurate." She laughed at the scowl on her friend's face. "You should do an angry photo shoot one day. That face is adorbs."

Despite his somewhat-calming talks with Chloe, it was his night patrols with his partner that really had him calm and straight.

It took three months, but he managed to get accustomed to their relationship. He turned his eyes elsewhere instead, flirting with Ladybug or the pretty model he was paired up with during that photo shoot last week. Like Chloe had said, it didn't have to be serious, and he was allowed to test the waters and figure things out, right?

And as Chat, flirting was second nature.

"Oh my—what is _wrong_ with you sometimes?" Ladybug grumbled when they'd finally left the gathering on the street and landed on a rooftop away from the commotion that usually followed the cleansing of an akuma.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, completely oblivious to the force of her scowl.

"That girl was like, three years younger than you."

He tilted his head at her. "Is that an issue?" He wanted her to say it, to confirm for him that an age gap like that at their age was weird. His mother had been five years younger than his father, but they were adults and five years was not a third of her life like it was a fifteen-year-old.

Ladybug visibly floundered. "No, it's not. It just—I just—"

"Jealous?" he cooed. He glanced down at his ring as it flashed and backed away from her with a teasing grin. "Ah, and so the clock strikes twelve."

"I'm not jealous!" she called back.

"Of course not," he laughed as he dropped down between buildings on the other side of the street and out of sight.

It was only a week or two after that that it happened. For the first night since they'd started doing weekly patrols a year and a half ago, Ladybug didn't show up for patrol. There were no akuma about, and the city was quiet, so he knew it was a personal day for her then. He couldn't reach her through the communicator, and after an hour he gave up and decided to head home.

But in a last minute decision, Chat Noir changed direction, heading down a different road towards a familiar balcony.

Marinette wasn't up on her balcony like she was dying to be, feeling the fresh breeze on her face, surrounded by rose bushes and flowers…she knew Chat Noir was probably looking for Ladybug, and she didn't want him to see her like the mess she was.

Chat Noir saw the light on in her bedroom and decided to visit anyways, knocking on the little door at the back of the balcony lightly.

She knew who it was. She should have ignored him, but something in her core felt that was rude. She intended to simply ask him to leave her be for the night. Tikki was watching helplessly from her little room in the closet as Marinette quickly dried her eyes on a tissue and checked her appearance quickly in her mirror. She turned off the overhead light, leaving on the lamp, hoping the dimmer lighting would hide the redness in her face.

She climbed to unlock the little door, pushing it up to open it. Chat Noir caught it and pushed it the rest of the way, frowning when he saw her face. "Are you alright?" he demanded.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she grinned. "I stubbed my toe on the way to open the—"

"Marinette," he sighed. "Either come up here or I'll hop down there."

"Chat Noir," she rolled her eyes. "I'm actually not in the mood to talk, I'm getting ready for bed."

"Five minutes," he promised, offering a hand down into the opening.

Hesitantly, Marinette took his hand and let him lift her up onto the roof. "Five minutes," she reiterated, frowning as he took a few steps back to look at her.

"Who hurt you?" he asked with a playful glare.

Marinette swallowed hard. "It wasn't…He didn't…"

Chat Noir's heart dropped. That guy he was seeing…Chat Noir felt the glare turn serious, and his fists clenched. "Wait, did he really hurt you? What happened?" He stepped up to the front of her and rest his hands on her shoulders, but she kept her face turned, embarrassed as a few more tears pricked her eyes.

"You were there when I bared my soul to you about Ladybug," he reminded her softly, thinking back to the candle lit dinner he'd tried to set up for his partner. "I can be here for you this time and finally return the favor."

"Shouldn't you be with Ladybug?" Marinette murmured, wiping her eyes before the tears could fall.

"She didn't show up tonight. We were supposed to meet for a patrol—but she's strong. I know she's alright. She knows where to find me if she needs me. Right now I'm here for you."

"I got dumped," she breathed, her voice light as the wind. "Just…the age gap. He just didn't…feel it, he said. Whatever that means."

Chat Noir learned back against the railing across from her, not knowing what to say. He and Marinette hadn't really talked about things like this before. What could he say to make it better? What would he want someone to say to him? But Marinette beat him to breaking the silence.

"It was just nice, you know?" she continued with a smile. "To have someone interested in me like that. He wanted to know everything—what I liked, what I was feeling, what I liked to do. I've never really had anyone _that_ interested in me before."

Chat frowned. "Clearly he did you a service."

"A what?" Marinette frowned up at Chat Noir in surprise, and he realizing his lacking social skills were showing.

"I just mean," he continued quickly, "that at least he was man enough to let you know he wasn't feeling it anymore. That he didn't just lead you on."

Understanding what he meant, Marinette nodded solemnly and put her chin back on her knees. "But it just made me think, the more he got to know me, the less interested he was."

He felt his stomach drop to the floor and he pushed away from the rail to take up a place crouched in front of her. "That's not true at all," he told her seriously. "You are a wonderful, amazing person. You're talented and kind, and any guy that isn't interested in that isn't worth your time."

"You hardly know me," she said, a faint blush tinting her cheeks. "But thank you."

"I know you better than you think," he quipped with a wink.

"Have you ever had your heart broken?" she dared to ask, tugging at threads hanging from the cuffs of her rolled up jeans. "Anyone ever _dared_ to dump The Chat Noir?"

"Any lady I've taken out hasn't been aware of that," he laughed. "I've never been dumped, but I've been the one to break a girl's heart. It wasn't fun and I wished I hadn't had to do it."

"So why did you?"

Chat straightened up, stretching his knees. "Because I knew it wasn't going to work out. I didn't think it was fair to keep dragging it on when I wasn't happy and I knew I wouldn't ever be the kind of guy that would truly make her happy."

"Was she upset?"

Chat finally looked up at Marinette, but saw Chloe's face instead, just as sad and teary. Just as earnestly upset and heartbroken.

"Yeah."

"Did she hate you?"

He frowned at Marinette. "No, Marinette. She was upset. For a really long time. She didn't talk to me for a while. We did become friends again, though."

"I don't think he and I will ever be friends again."

Chat Noir sighed and moved to the lounge chair, nudging her until she made room for him next to her. He laid back and looked up at the stars for a second, reminding himself that releasing his miraculous was not going to fix her problem.

"Maybe not," he said finally. "Not everyone does. She and I were sort of friends before we tried the dating thing. We only tried it so I could prove a point to her. It was a bad idea, it was messy. But she finally understood."

"What point was that?"

"That I wasn't going to make her happy," he explained slowly. "She has bothered me about wanting to go out for a few years now, and I never felt that way about her. So to finally get her to shut up and _show_ her it wasn't going to work, I finally agreed. It led her on and made things worse."

"I just don't want to feel like this anymore." She hugged her knees tighter, wondering if this was how growing up was always going to feel. Unsure, unwanted, rejected. Confused and like every decision was wrong.

"I don't know what to tell you," he whispered, still watching the starts above them and picking out airplanes among the twinkling lights. "I'm still figuring it out right alongside you. But it'll get easier. There will be other guys. You still have your friends." He turned his head to meet her gaze, a little surprised she was laying back with him, but her head turned towards him. "I've seen the group you hang out with. You've got a lot of friends rooting for you."

This made Marinette smile as she thought about each and every one of them. Especially Adrien. The smile faltered. There would be other guys, just not the one she…

Marinette sighed. She needed to move on, and she hoped seeing Luka would help push her feelings in a different direction. Maybe that's truly why she was so upset, because he hadn't given her the chance to finally, fully have feelings for him. He didn't immediately make her forget Adrien, as much as she adored Luka.

"When did you get so wise, Chat Noir?"

He grinned at her. "I have some pretty awesome friends."

Marinette hummed at looked up at the sky above her. "Me, too."


	3. Chat Gets Akumatized

**I wanted to get this one up before Chat Blanc comes out, whenever that is. But that short description of the episode gave me an idea so I ran with it like a madwoman. Let me know what you think!**

 **Set: This bounces back and forth between a few months after The Reveal (17/18 years old) and when they are 15/16.**

She'd never have been able to tell anything was out of the ordinary. Except that he was more aggressive than usual. She was walking back towards the school with Alya after lunch when he dropped down in front of her. The landing startled them both, it was solid and hard, not the least bit catlike.

"Ladies," he purred, taking a step towards them.

Alya recovered first and smirked at him. "To what do we owe the pleasure of this surprise visit from one of the great saviors of Paris?" she asked, pulling her phone from her pocket.

"Just your enchanting presence, beautiful." He reached forward as he approached them and ran a finger beneath Alya's jaw. His eyes flicked over to Marinette. "Princess."

Marinette shook her head at that and let out a huff. "Chat Noir. Is there an akuma nearby?" Marinette asked, her fingers brushing along the side of her bag lying at her hip, but Tikki wasn't stirring like she would if there was trouble.

"He calls you _Princess_ ," Alya hissed to her, shooting her a glance while trying to keep her smile towards the hero before them.

"No, no Akuma," he drawled, spinning his baton. "Just me."

"Well, we're kind of in a hurry then," Marinette started, but froze when his expression darkened. Every alarm in her body flared at the same time and without thinking, she grabbed Alya's wrist.

"Girl, _what_?" Alya protested, trying to remove her hand from Marinette's. "Chat Noir wants to _talk to us_. You-know-who isn't even at school today."

"Everyone is in such a hurry to brush me off today," Chat murmured, taking a step towards them.

"Marinette," Alya pressed again, but whatever she'd been about to say vanished the minute Chat draped his arm across her shoulders. Her expression shifted into one of…Marinette could only call it admiration. Alya was staring up at Chat Noir and Marinette dropped her wrist and backed away.

"Alya's on my side, Marinette," Chat said slowly. "Come on." He held up a hand.

"You've been akumatized," she realized aloud. "Is…Chat, is Hawkmoth in your head?"

Chat flicked one of ears and grinned. "He's yelling at me back there somewhere."

"Chat, you can't give in! Whatever happened, you can't give him—"

"Give me some credit, Marinette," Chat rolled his eyes with a sigh. "He can't control me. He's just giving me the power to get the attention I deserve."

Her heart pounded in her chest, and she finally felt Tikki fluttering at her hip. She needed to get away from him, so she turned and bolted without another word. She could hear him move to follow her, but something Alya said stopped him. Marinette had never been more thankful for Alya's presence in a dangerous situation, but she knew deep down that Chat would never allow Alya to get hurt, akumatized or not.

"Tikki, this is _horrible_ ," Marinette said between gasps for air nearly five blocks away.

"As if today wasn't stressful enough," Tikki agreed, shooting out of the purse.

"What do I do?" Marinette cried, pacing. "How do I find the akuma on him? How is it even possible for him to _get_ akumatized?"

"Slow down, everything will be okay, Marinette," Tikki soothed, flittering around until Marinette stood still. "Miraculous holders can still be akumatized because you still have feelings that Hawkmoth can manipulate."

"So, technically he can akumatize a dog," she guessed flatly.

"That wouldn't be the wisest, but yes."

"I can't fight _Chat_ ," Marinette whispered in horror after a few seconds of silence.

"Marinette, listen to me!" Tikki demanded, positioning herself between Marinette's eyes. "You must! If Hawkmoth gets his hands on the cat miraculous it would be even _worse_ than having to fight him because _Chat Noir wouldn't ever be able to help you again._ "

Marinette took a slow shaky breath. "You're right, Tikki," she nodded, thanking the small kwami before asking her to transform her.

-x-

They were sitting at a picnic table in the park for lunch. The weather was unusually nice for winter, even the tail end of it. February was always pock-marked with some warm days, but this as a t-shirt-and-nice-breeze kind. They welcomed it, celebrating their lunch break outdoors.

The last month or so since they'd found out about each other, Marinette had spent more time daydreaming, putting Adrien's face in place of Chat's and Chat's in Adrien's in her memories.

Like the first time she met Adrien, the first time she'd met Chat. Then embarrassing things like kissing Chat to break the akuma spell, and every other embarrassing thing she'd done. But now her mind was trying to uncover long forgotten memories of embarrassing things Chat had done that she could not pin Adrien's face to. The newest, wasn't so much embarrassing as it was interesting.

"You've been akumatized twice," Marinette mused aloud, completely wrapped up in her thoughts and the memory of it. Cheek resting in one hand, she took a bite of carrot, still staring off into the distance.

Whatever Adrien had been saying trailed off at Marinette's interruption.

"No he hasn't," Alya said with a frown, exchanging a glance with Nino before both turned to Adrien.

Marinette snapped back to reality and she glanced around at her friends' confused faces before settling on Adrien's ashen one. Her breath left her and her veins chilled at the realization of what she'd just said.

"He was Camera Man—"

"Still the stupidest name ever," Adrien grumbled, unfreezing and returning to his own packed lunch.

"—and that was it," Alya finished. She narrowed her eyes at Adrien. "Unless there's another time we don't know about."

"That _you_ don't know about? Unlikely," he mumbled and Nino laughed.

"No, no, you're right," Marinette rambled, giggling nervously. "I was thinking of someone else. There's been so many…"

"Sure, girl, sure," Alya mumbled, unconvinced as she returned to her lunch.

Marinette hid her blush behind a napkin and she felt Adrien flick her thigh as Nino and Alya changed the subject. Her gaze lifted to meet his green eyes and her heart slowed a fraction beneath his comforting look. But she knew that look. It was a Chat Noir look. A look that told her silently that he knew what she was talking about, and she made a mental note to bring it up later that night during their Thursday night study session at her place.

-x-

They were lying on her bed, bodies tangled together like two puzzle pieces made only for each other. He had his arm beneath her head, bent and holding her to his side. One arm wrapped across his chest and a leg draped between his, she couldn't help but feel like they fit together perfectly. They had maybe ten minutes left before Adrien was due back under his father's watchful eye, and they'd finished the review a bit early.

"What happened that day?" Marinette asked quietly, finger lazily tracing the printed letters of the words emblazoned across his shirt. Her cheek was pressed into his chest, and she could hear his quiet breathing.

"What day?" he murmured.

She pulled away enough to look up at him, a little deflated when she noticed his eyes were shut. "The day Chat Noir was akumatized."

His chest swelled as he took a deep breath and let it out, but he didn't answer her.

"Adrien," she tried, poking his cheek. "Come to think of it, I think that's the only time someone was akumatized and didn't get dumb little name."

"Marinette," he sighed.

"Come on," she pouted, "it wasn't that bad, you didn't really cause much of a stir."

"I don't want you to feel bad," he mumbled, turning and planting a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Why?" Her heart flipped and she tried to push through the memory at double speed, but the fuzzy edges and the fact that it had been two years ago didn't help her in trying to remember specifics.

"It was my sixteenth birthday."

Marinette's heart sank.

-x-

"Nathalie?" Adrien called out, noticing the unusual setting in the dining room. His voice echoed faintly, the room completely empty. His eyes drifted to the long table, where only one setting was placed, and his heart sunk. He pressed his lips together and steeled himself as he approached and saw the note card sitting next to the plate of breakfast.

 _Running an errand for your father. The car will be waiting to take you to school. –N_

His appetite abandoned him and soured his mood. Not only was his father absent on the morning of his sixteenth birthday, but so was Nathalie. What a great start, he thought bitterly. He had half a mind to grab the cheese cubes off the plate before heading back to his room.

"Excuse me, what is _this_?" Plagg demanded when he dropped the yellow cubes onto a plate next to the kwami.

"Deal with it," Adrian grunted before jamming all his books into his bag for school.

"I'm not _equipped_ to deal with this," Plagg whined.

Adrien looked up to the doorway when Plagg flew past his hands and into his school bag.

"We have to leave early," Gorilla said. "I have to pick your father up this morning and take him to an appointment."

"Fan _tastic_ ," he sighed before pulling on his shoes.

He thought his day would start to look up when reports starting hitting his phone as he ambled through the halls aimlessly about an akuma a couple blocks away. He quickly stowed his bag in his locker, transformed, and vaulted his way to where the reports indicated action.

"Fancy meeting you here," he said with a smirk as he landed next to a very irate looking Ladybug.

"You're late," she snapped.

Confusion took hold in him. "Got here as fast as I could, but maybe this guy could have helped me out a little." He studied the man hovering above the usual morning traffic, forcing cars to speed way beyond the safe limits.

"Everyone is in a hurry today," she sighed. "I don't have _time_ for this."

"Well then, we should probably find a timely solution."

"Chat," she warned, uncrossing her arms and winding up her yo-yo.

Chat held up his hands in a placating gesture, but the fact that she wasn't humoring him in the slightest like usual was pushing his mood further south. "Okay, no need to get _ticked off_."

Ladybug rolled her eyes and dove off the ledge of the building towards the akuma. He pushed ahead of her to draw him attention while Ladybug did her thing figuring out where the akuma was.

"Did you know that six-thirty is the best time on a clock," he called out before beating his baton across the man's face like a bat. " _Hand's down!_ "

"Chat Noir, _focus_ ," Ladybug yelled from somewhere behind him. "Help me figure this out so we can be done with this faster."

"Geez," he grumbled, all humor dropping from his face now. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're trying to get rid of me." He dodged an attack before glancing back at her.

"Chat, _please_."

"Must be something important." He lunge forward and caught the guy's wrist for half a beat, long enough to confirm his suspicions. "Wristwatch."

"This is the most important day of the year," she huffed, throwing out her yo-yo to wrap around the akuma's wrist.

"I'm not disagreeing with you, but—"

Ladybug took the risk of pulling herself towards the man as he reached out to attack her. Chat Noir leapt to intercede, but managed to only knock her out of the man's reach by a hair. Still, she just barely managed the rip the leather banded watch away.

"Chat Noir!" she snapped when she finished rolling across the grassy field they had been fighting in.

"What is _wrong_ with you?" he asked, letting his baton slide back to its usual size before replacing it at his back. "That was stupid, Ladybug, hat would have happened if—"

"But it didn't," she mumbled, breaking the glass on the face. She did her thing, catching the blackened butterfly and purifying it quickly before setting off her cure.

"Ladybug—"

"Chat, please, not today."

Something in him snapped. "You nearly got yourself directly in the path of _disaster_ , we are _going_ to talk about that."

"I've got _two_ minutes to get to class!" she cried angrily. " _Two_! I practiced this _all night_ and it's already going wrong! I can't keep messing this up, Chat Noir. You don't understand, nothing else matters to me except…"

"Ladybug, I—"

"I just need a little less _you_ right now, Chat Noir." She held up a hand and took a step away from him. And he watched her go, deflating.

Chat knew he was late to class ten minutes later. But what did it matter? No one had the time for him. So he stayed up on the roof as Chat Noir for as long as he could manage. He figured he'd go down into his classes with some bad excuse that no one would think twice about. But Plagg must have felt for him, because it was hours that he sat up there. And not a single minute made him feel any better. Chat Noir didn't even bat an eye when he saw the little butterfly coming for him.

" _Chat Noir."_

"Where are you, Hawkmoth?" Chat demanded, ignoring the voice suddenly speaking to him in his head.

" _Nevermind that, Chat Noir."_

"You going to try to make me tell you who I am?" he asked blandly, pulling his knees tighter to his chest.

" _Of course not,"_ Hawkmoth laughed. _"The kwami prevent you from uttering your own name. Did you think it would be that easy? No. You're going to help me lure out Ladybug, then you're going to hand deliver_ both _of your miraculous."_

"Do you really think it's going to be that easy?" Chat mocked. He stood up. "What powers are you going to give me if I think about doing that for you?" He felt a tad bit vengeful, wanting to ruin Ladybug's day the way she helped to ruin his.

" _I'm giving you the power to keep anyone's attention on you that you wish._ "

"Well, it'll entertain me at least," he grumbled, diving off the building and heading for the school. Lunch periods across the city varied between schools, but the general timing was the same. And he wasn't sure what school Ladybug attended, so he worked around the streets teasing as many girls as he could in an effort to draw her out. And the attention his powers gave him didn't hurt either.

To be honest, it was nice. Really nice. The attention he'd wanted all day. He'd never have had the guts to relish in the spotlight like this as his real self, he thought.

" _You'll break eventually, Chat Noir,"_ Hawkmoth murmured in the back of his mind, clearly amused. " _They always do_."

Chat grit his teeth and landed on his fit at the edge of a building. "We'll see. I'm still not giving you my miraculous." He looked down at the street, at the dozen or so girls following him from below. From the street on the other side of the building, he heard the telltale sound of a Marinette Panic Attack.

"What am I going to _do_?" she was practically yelling, no doubt to Alya. "What if he's sick? Or hurt? Even the teachers didn't know he was going to be out today."

The sound was soothing to him in a strange way. With little grace, he stepped off the side of the building ahead of the pair.

-x-

"Here, kitty, kitty," Ladybug crooned from a street light behind him, and Chat Noir stopped dead in his tracks to glance over his shoulder. "Looking for me?"

"Hardly," he laughed, and the sound sent chills down her spine. "Sorry, Ladybug, I was under the impression you were a bit busy today. I found some new people to hang out with." He swung his arm wide, gesturing to the dozens of people swarming around him.

He froze for a second, and Ladybug could see his eyes dull. Long enough for her to realize Hawkmoth was talking to him.

"Chat Noir, please," she begged. "Don't listen to him."

He blinked and returned, his eyes landing back on her. He bent an arm back over his head and tossed his baton at her like a throwing knife. It was a distraction, she realized too late. When she'd turned to dodge, her eyes following the movement, he'd sprung up towards her and landed a solid punch to her shoulder.

"Time to put this feral kitty down," she grunted, sitting up from where she'd landed.

"Aw, you wouldn't hurt me, would you Bugaboo?" For a second she could see her partner in this man standing before her. That lopsided grin and the way his tail flicked behind him. But the look soured and now he was sneering down at her. "I always knew this friendship was a little one sided."

Ladybug leapt up and retreated to try and figure out a game plan, and it quickly turned into a game of cat and mouse…

Five whole minutes and not a single pun or nickname. It kind of made it easier to pretend that it wasn't _her_ Chat, but there was always that shred of reality that told her she knew better. "There's only a few places the Akuma could be, our costumes don't exactly have _pockets_ ," she grumbled, then paused. "You know what? He's a guy. I'll _bet_ he has pockets…"

She flipped back away from him quickly, but stayed close enough to really look him over. The ears, the belt, his bell at his neck, or his baton. Slim pickings, really, but enough to be time consuming going through them all. And what if none of them held the akuma? She'd worry about that if that was the case…

First item—Ladybug threw out her yoyo and snatched Chat's baton from his grasp as it was shirking back into his hand. He get a yelp as he hit the ground roughly and the smooth metal snapped into her hand. She waste no time gripping it with two hands and slamming it down across her thigh to break it.

"Oh, god, why— _that was so dumb_ ," she grunted before tossing the offending metal bar as far away from them as she could. Still intact, she rubbed at the bruise surely forming beneath her suit. Hopefully that wasn't holding the akuma, because she'd need a better plan to break it.

"I think I would have been really upset if you broke my baton for nothing," Chat called down the street to her angrily.

"Well, this would be easier if you just _told_ me where the akuma was," she tried sweetly, sauntering up to him casually. The bell would be next, she decided as she approached him. It would be easy metal to bend, and if she was wrong, the ears would be an easy second target.

She reached forward as quickly as she could and gripped the metal of the bell in her hand just as his hands landed on both her forearms. She let out a loud breath when nothing happened to _her_ , but Chat froze. Ladybug opened her hand and let the twisted metal lump drop to the ground as a little black butterfly flittered away.

"Ladybug?" Chat breathed, confusion all over his face. "I thought you were in a hurry to be somewhere."

"In a minute," she mumbled, turning away to cleanse the akuma. She missed the way Chat's face fell at her words, though. He turned on his heel and headed in the opposite direction of Ladybug, trying to catch his breath and collect his memories.

His breath left him in a burst as Ladybug slammed into him from behind, and his feet lifted off the ground. She swung them up to the top of a nearby building, letting him free from her arms as soon as their feet were back on the ground.

"Alright, Kitty," she said, letting her yo-yo snap back into her grasp. "Tell me what happened."

-x-

"I'm sorry I played a part in that…" Marinette whispered when he didn't speak again. Why did he need to retell that particular part? She already knew.

"You didn't know."

She wrapped her arms tighter around his chest and pressed her cheek into his collarbone, tilting her head back enough to kiss his throat. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." He sighed and ran a hand down her arm.

"I don't even remember any of that." She sounded slightly horrified. "I remember rushing that morning, and getting to class and you weren't there. And then of course fighting Chat, but I don't remember saying…I'm horrible."

"No, you're not," he murmured. "I think sometimes people just need to take a minute and realize the effect they have on others, whether it's significant to you or not. Whether intentional or not. Small things can make big waves in the lives of other people." He pushed back so he was leaning up against her headboard looking down at her, brushing a few strands of hair off her forehead. "I shouldn't have taken everything so personally." She hummed a sound of vague disagreement and turned her head away from him to glance down at the foot of the bed where the kwami were snuggling.

"I just wish I could go back…"

"You saved that day more as Marinette than as Ladybug, you know."

Marinette sat up, an almost angry questioning look on her face, and Adrien couldn't help the chuckle that passed his lips. "What did I o?" she demanded a little louder and shriller than she'd intended.

He tapped her nose with a smirk.

-x-

"Marinette?"

The dark haired girl jumped at the familiar voice, the quick unanticipated motion making her knock her head into the bricks she was sitting against. "Adrien!" she laughed nervously as she scrambled to get to her feet and brush the dust off her jeans.

"What are you doing here so late?"

Marinette noted the look on his face. He wasn't frowning, but he didn't look as friendly as usual, like he'd had a rough day. "You weren't at school today and I made you a gift and I wanted to make sure you got it an—" she rambled, holding out the small wrapped gift. She hesitated when he didn't immediately reach out for it. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?"

She pulled the gift back to her chest as she realized. She'd learned a long time ago that his father was distant, but it was only over the past year or so that she'd learned just how much. So she didn't ask how his day was or where he'd been instead of school.

With a boldness she could only attribute to that tiny part of _Marinette_ that was always _Ladybug_ , she reached forward with her empty hand and grabbed one of his. "Do you want to come have dinner with me?"

Realization as his eyes widened, she felt her own face warm and she wanted to die. "I-I-I mean with Alya and me and Alya and—" she stammered, dropping his hand like it was on fire. She took a breath like Alya had coached her—she'd been trying to help her get over the stammering. "Alya and I," she tried again slowly, focusing on the mailbox next to them, "were going to have a girls' night. We're going to that little bistro along the Seine. It's new and we've never been." Her eyes turned back to Adrien's, so bright and green even in the dim light from the setting sun. "I think you should come and we can celebrate your birthday instead!"

Adrien only blinked at her, and she bit her tongue against wanting to ask if he'd had other plans instead. She studied his jaw, much more defined and sharper than it had been two years ago when they'd met. His cheeks losing the baby fat that had lingered through the tail end of puberty.

"You don't have to," she said finally with a forced grin. "But I' really like it if you'd come."

"You don't mind me crashing your girls' night?" he asked hesitantly, a shyness that had Marinette's heart skipping in her chest.

"You—you're not crashing if I'm inviting you, which I am," she began to babble, "and it would be way more worthy to make this a celebration than just a girls' night."

"Okay," Adrien breathed with a nod. "I'll come. If you _really_ don't mind."

His fourteenth birthday had been a disaster, his fifteenth had been low-key but at least Nathalie and his father hadn't forgotten. He'd snuck out for dinner with Nino, but this…this had him actually excited.

"I don't mind at all!" Marinette chirped, picking her shoulder bag up off the concrete.

"How long were you waiting here?" he asked quietly as she positioned it against her hip.

"Not _long_ ," she laughed nervously. "I just wanted to hand deliver my present to you, and the lady on the other side of the intercom wouldn't tell me where you were or when you'd be back." She frowned.

"She didn't know where I was," he scoffed automatically in a bitter display Marinette had never seen from Adrien. He caught himself, and she saw a blush dust his cheeks. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen on him and she found herself unable to think of anything else. "I decided to skip school and celebrate my birthday on my own today."

"Understandable," she choked out, clearing her throat and pointing down the road. "This way."

It was a quiet walk to the bakery, and Adrien was afraid Marinette was regretting her decision to invite him. He had _planned_ to spend the evening in his room sulking and ignoring Plagg until the day was completed and over. He deserved at least that much on his birthday, regardless of his age and especially if those closest to him had forgotten entirely.

But…

They didn't, he realized, feeling all the negative emotions he'd been suppressing since the akumatization vanish. Marinette had remembered. And she'd gotten him a gift. And waited outside his house just to give it to him in person.

Marinette shot a quick glance in her peripherals at Adrien, who was silently staring dead ahead of them as they walk, and noticed his cheeks reddening again. She pressed her lips together and stared down at her shoes.

"Did you enjoy your day away from school?" Marinette asked, immediately wanting to kick herself. The look on his face when he'd found her sitting at his mailbox—of _course_ he'd had a bad day.

"No," he answered honestly despite the lie he'd been planning to tell.

Marinette smile softly, pushing open the door to the bakery. "Well, let's fix that, okay?"

She led them both inside.

"Papa!" she called, ignoring Alya sitting on a stool behind the counter. She hopped p when she saw Marinette escorting Adrien inside.

"Hey, Alya," Adrien greeted with a shy smile and a small wave.

Marinette ignored Alya's suggestive grin as Marinette passed through the bakery into the kitchen in the back to find her father.

"How was your day, sweetie?" he greeted, kissing her on the top of her head.

"I have a favor to ask," she replied instead.

-x-

"That was still, to this day, the best cake I'd ever gotten for my birthday," Adrien grinned.

"But—but—" Marinette spluttered, scooting off the bed and accidentally knocking both kwami off the bed in her frantic escape.

"Excuse you!" Plagg cried. "Tikki, your user is _so_ rude."

"I didn't even _do_ anything!" Marinette cried, ignoring the kwami entirely. "Papa made you the cake, Alya called Nino so that he could join us after dinner. I just got you a lame book of _poems_. Who _does_ that?"

Adrien swung his legs over the side of her bed and began putting his shoes back on. "Someone who knew me _very_ well and knew I liked poetry," he supplied. "I still have that book, you know. My mom had a copy growing up and we would read it together. I still don't know how you knew."

"I didn't," Marinette said flatly. "It was luck."

Adrien stood and placed his hands on her shoulders. "It wasn't luck that you showed up literally at my doorstep on probably one of the worst days of the year, or that you invited me out to dinner to help salvage my birthday. _That_ was the greatest gift."

"I still think it as the Camembert cheese bread she gave you last year," Plagg interrupted, flying up to Adrien's face. Adrien simply rolled his eyes and nudged Plagg away.

"Okay, _that one_ was luck."

Marinette dropped her face into her hands in realization. "No," she groaned. "That one was Nino. He said he could smell it on you, I figured it was your favorite."

"No." Adrien laughed and pulled her into his arms.

"You kissed me on the cheek when you left," Marinette remembered suddenly, pulling away enough to look up at him. "I was on a cloud for days."

Adrien grinned. "Least I could do to thank you. Like I said, Marinette saved that day for me. I did get in trouble pretty harshly with Nathalie that night when I got home."

"Really?"

"Well, she tried at least. She dropped all her threats when I reminded her it was my birthday. Father never found out. She hasn't forgotten since."

"Well," Marinette sign before a small smile took over her face. "I'm glad I could do _something_."

"You always do, Princess," he murmured before kissing her cheek, hands dropping to her waist. "You always have the best ideas right when you need them. It's one of my favorite things about you."

Marinette couldn't resist the blush, but stood on her toes to kiss him anyways.


	4. Chat Gets Stabbed

**Okay, soooo this was the first oneshot I wrote after the initial one, Secrets Secrets. Because I wanted an opposite scenario where Chat is hurt…but I kind of took it a bit further. Originally this was pre-reveal, but I felt it worked better after.**

 **Set: About 6 months after the reveal, 17/18 years old.**

The akuma had to have been some kind of fisherman, given his outfit of tall boots, ratty raincoat, and—oh yeah, the huge ass harpoon he kept shooting at them.

"This is getting tiring," Ladybug admitted, leaning heavily against him behind a chimney.

"Early morning, My Lady?" Chat murmured down at her before peeking around the bricks.

"More like late night. I've been going since I got up for school _yesterday_."

Chat hummed in response, but his mind was elsewhere. She'd been off for most of this fight, sluggish and lethargic. He'd pulled her out of some close calls already. It wasn't like they hadn't had their off days over the last two and a half years of fighting, but usually it was him who was off his game.

"We need to get him in an open area and distracted," he thought aloud.

"The courtyard in the center of the park," she mumbled. "With the huge fountain in the center."

"Alright," he nodded, "let's go."

Everything was typical, usual. Make a plan, execute plan. Take down the akuma. Right? They planned to get him out in the open, where they had a better field of view and could keep an eye on a potentially lethal akuma.

Chat let out an irritated breath and extended his baton just in time to jab into the back of Ladybug's knee. It buckled beneath her, dropping her head low enough that the harpoon missed her.

"Focus, My Lady," he reminded, helping her up quickly.

"Sorry," she sighed.

"C'mon. We can do this."

"And then naps."

"And then naps," he agreed with a chuckle.

"Going for the gun," she breathed before launching forward before he could stop her. She was running in without a plan.

Chat let out an involuntary breath, a force knocking him back on his feet a few paces. His eyes connected with Ladybug's and he frowned. Why were they so wide, he wondered. She looked terrified, but the akuma was _behind_ her. She said she was going for his gun, why did she stop? His eyes met her deep blue ones and he tried to warn her, remind her of the danger lurking just behind her.

 _Chat_ , he saw her mouth soundlessly before flying across the vast space that separated them, ignoring the akuma hot on her tail.

He tried to tell her that he was fine, he was okay, but no words left his lips, only a choked breath. Chat looked down at himself, where Ladybug had been staring, and blinked at the sight of the harpoon protruding from just above his right hip.

The pain was as instantaneous as the realization then, and he dropped to his knees, hands moving to encircle the metal pole. It was slippery, and he shakily pulled a hand away to see his own blood glistening wetly on his glove.

Shit, this was bad. This was _bad_.

"Chat, oh my god, _oh my god_ ," He reached out and pushed Ladybug back as she dropped to a crouch in front of him, but his hand slipped right off her shoulder and he nearly lost his balance on his knees.

"Go," he managed through strangled breaths. "Finish it."

"I can't—Chat—I—you—" Ladybug was nearly in tears now, watching him struggling to focus, the pain evident on his face. He'd never made that face before, he'd never been that pale. It was terrifying. What a day for Chloe to be out of the country. And there was no longer any time to get a miraculous to Alya or Nino…

"The only way to help me," Chat panted, pulling at the harpoon. A strangled grunt forced past his lips and he released it. "Purify the akuma. Turn things back."

She stood next him, moving to push him out of the way of another attack. He let out a shout when they hit the ground together in a tangle lump, and she immediately moved off of him. "I'm sorry!" she cried, turning away from him as she spun her yo-yo wildly in front of them to deflect any further attacks.

Chat let out another pained yell and Ladybug whipped around to see him gripping the harpoon with both hands again, still attempting to pull it out.

"Stop!" she commanded, noticing the green glow beginning to flicker around the wound. "You're going to transform back if you keep it up, just stop! I'll get the gun and purify the akuma—"

"Then _go_ ," Chat ground out between clenched teeth, hands on the ground in front of him as he breathed heavily. Blood was dripping to the pavement now, and Ladybug felt her blood running cold, adrenaline coursing through her blood and fear beginning to take over.

Her footsteps pounded away, or maybe that was his heart in his own ears. His vision was darkening, and he blinked a few times and tried his hardest to focus on the dirt in front of his face. Was this how it was going to end? Numb and cold, to a really, _really_ stupid akuma? Deep sea fisherman.

If he could just get the thing _out of him_ …he could help his Ladybug finish it off.

Chat pressed his forehead into the ground, curling around the harpoon painfully.

Ladybug ripped her gaze away from Chat completely, knowing if she didn't she'd turn back to him instead of trying to finish off the akuma. The faster she could do that, the faster she could use her Miraculous Ladybug to turn everything back.

But would she this time? Last time she'd been injured, she couldn't heal the wound…what if she couldn't…

"He has always been your weakness," the akuma hissed with a smirk before he lifted his gun towards Chat Noir, who was trying to push himself off the ground.

She didn't even have time to scream. She didn't have time to think, and she reacted too slow to stop the harpoon from launching towards Chat Noir.

But she did manage to knock it off its course, and it missed Chat by inches. Without wasting anymore time, Ladybug launched herself back towards Chat. She wrapped her free arm around his shoulders and tried with all her heart to ignore his yell of pain as she jerked them out of the park and in between buildings on the neighboring roads.

"I'm sorry," she whispered with a horrified sob as she saw the bleeding increase. He was dripping onto the alley ground, his breathing heavier. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what to do." She dropped to her knees in the entrance to the alley. Chat Noir gripped the bricks next to him tightly, gritting his teeth against the pain.

"I can't do this, I can't do this," she chanted, pacing back and forth in front of him. "What am I supposed to do? I can't do this without you—"

"Ladybug," Chat breathed, trying and failing once again to get to his feet.

"—I might have time to get help from Rena or Carapace if I go _right now_ , but what if I can't even turn everything back and—"

" _Marinette_." The yell left him breathless, but it did its job, and Ladybug was immediately on her knees in front of him, wishing she could transform back just to use her jacket to stop the bleeding.

"I'm sorry," she cried, "this is all my fault, Chat, I'm sorry."

"Stop," he shook his head before gnashing his teeth and tossing his head back against the bricks.

"Chat, _don't_ ," she cried when she noticed him trying to tug at the harpoon again.

"Ladybug—" Alya froze over Ladybug's shoulder at the sight of an impaled Chat Noir. "Oh, my god," she breathed in horror, dropping her phone.

"Alya, no!" Ladybug snapped moving to stand between her and Chat. "I can't deal with this right now! You need to run, _please_."

"LB," Chat panted, gripping the harpoon again.

"No! Don't touch it!" Alya commanded, crossing the short distance from the street to where Chat was sitting against the brick wall on his side. He had a hand in the air, and Alya knew what he was about to do before Ladybug did.

" _Cataclysm!"_

"No!" Ladybug screeched as his hand landed on the pole, quickly turning it to dust. The reaction was almost instantaneous. As soon as the harpoon disintegrated, the green light flared up from the wound and Chat Noir changed back into Adrien.

Plagg landed in his lap and Ladybug dove to check the little kwami for wounds to match Adrien's, but found none.

"Oh, my god," Alya gasped once before it turned into a chant. " _Adrien_?"

Adrien twisted weakly so that his back was pressed into the bricks, and his eyes fluttered shut.

"Adrien, no." Ladybug straddled him and lifted his chin so their eyes could meet. "Look at me."

"Six months ago," he started between breaths.

"Stop talking, Adrien," Alya demanded, coming up to Ladybug's shoulder and quickly stripping down to her tank top so she could press her t-shirt into the now-gaping wound.

"Six months ago, I asked you," Adrien pressed on, ignoring them both, "what you would do if I was hurt, and you said you would leave me to do what had to be done."

"Please don't ask me…"

Adrien held Ladybug's eyes with his own. "You _have to go_ ," he mumbled. "I'm…asking you…to leave me."

"You guessed right, I don't want to go," she whispered quickly, cupping both his cheeks in her hands. "I need to get you help."

"Help him by purifying the akuma," Alya interjected, placing a hand on Ladybug's shoulder. "I'm here now, Ladybug, I'll call an ambulance and get him help until you're finished."

"I—"

"We don't have time for you to have a breakdown right now!" Alya snapped, reaching out and slapping Ladybug across the cheek. "Get it together! You've fought tons of akuma without Chat, you can do it one more time."

Ladybug sucked in a breath and straightened, a new resolve boiling her veins. She leaned down to place a kiss to his cheek, lingering close for a moment. "I promise, I'll fix everything."

"That's my girl," Adrien sighed quietly as Ladybug took off towards the screaming in the street.

"You have so much to explain," Alya grumbled as she scrambled across the ground for her phone with its new cracked screen. She dialed an ambulance with one hand, leaning her weight onto Adrien's abdomen with the other.

Adrien felt so tired and numb now as the adrenaline was wearing off. He couldn't hear Ladybug fighting anymore. He couldn't sleep until he knew it was over. This was such a stupid way to go. Such a dumb akuma.

"Don't you _dare_ go to sleep on me, Adrien Agreste," Alya snapped, poking him in the cheek with her phone. "The ambulance is coming, I can hear it. And your girlfriend isn't picking up."

Adrien spluttered a watery laugh that turned into coughing. "You are such a bad journalist sometimes," he sighed, thoroughly amused.

"Why? Because I didn't know for almost _three years_ that you were Chat Noir?" she accused, but her tone was light.

"That's half of it," he chuckled, then winced as she shifted on her knees and the pressure she was applying changed. He let out a harsh and shaky breath as the pain returned to a distant throb again.

"Hey," Alya said quickly, "look at me."

"I'm awake," he murmured, moving to sit up straighter but he couldn't summon the strength in his arms. His hands were wet, he realized, and lifted them out of the puddle beneath him to look at his hands. They were dark and glistening. Red smeared the pale surfaces, and he stared in confusion for a second before he realized slowly that they were coated in his blood.

"Don't go to sleep," Alya was saying when he dropped his hands next to his sides. "You have to tell me how long you two have known about each other."

"Me and Marinette?" he asked drowsily.

Alya frowned. "No, you and Ladybug."

"Since she got hurt," he breathed, fighting to keep his eyes focused on her face. "Months ago."

"Jesus," Alya choked out, readjusting the wad of cloth, trying in vain to find a section that wasn't already seeping with blood. "You guys should just let me hang onto the necklace. I could have come help. This wouldn't have happened."

That woke Adrien up a little and he started laughing weakly. "Of course you're Rena Rouge," he laughed. "Of course she would pick you. Nino is Carapace, isn't he?"

"You didn't know?" Alya was genuinely surprised, to be honest. "It's been us for _years_."

Adrien tried to shake his head in lieu of a verbal response. "She wanted identities kept secret."

"Well, it's a little late for that," Alya mumbled before she noticed Adrien's eyes glazing over. "No, no, don't go to sleep." She reached up and nudged his cheek, smearing him with his own blood. She looked down to see the blood pooling between her fingers again. "You just had to Cataclysm the harpoon, didn't you?"

"She's fighting alone," Adrien whispered, lips barely moving. "I need to help her."

"No, Ladybug is fine," Alya insisted, turning her head when she heard the sirens wailing strong enough that she had to raise her voice. "Think about Marinette, okay?"

"I am…"

The panic Alya had been fighting back burst through her walls like a dam when Adrien stopped responding. "Help him, help him" she begged as a paramedic gripped her shoulder and moved to replace her at Adrien's side. "He got impaled by the akuma, but I'm not sure how bad—" She noticed the little black creature in his lap, remembering how it had appeared as his transformation had vanished, and she dove to pick it up before she could be completely ripped from his side.

Another paramedic pulled her away and began calmly but quickly shooting her questions, only half of which she knew the answers to. Allergies? Feathers, but she wasn't sure beyond that. His families phone numbers? She had his girlfriends, but not his father's.

She let out a breath as a gurney was quickly rushed past her, and then back with Adrien strapped in. She was amazed at how quickly they had loaded him up and gotten him into the ambulance.

"You coming?" one paramedic called to her from the back of the ambulance, and she didn't need to be asked twice. She jumped up into the back, taking a seat out of the way of the other two working on getting an IV into the back of Adrien's hand. "Help keep him awake for the time being."

"Adrien," one paramedic was saying. "Gotta keep your eyes open, alright? You know, you're much better looking in person. Those billboards don't do your eyes justice."

Alya spluttered a giggle at that. "His girlfriend has been saying the same thing for years."

"Oh?" the paramedic hummed, attaching a blood pressure cuff to Adrien's arm. "Tell me about your girlfriend, if she's anything like you I'll bet she's gorgeous as hell. Model?"

"Designer," Adrien sighed. "Savior of Paris."

Alya smiled and reached out to squeeze Adrien's knee. "It feels like that sometimes, doesn't it. She always does her best to help everyone around her."

"BPs way too low," one paramedic murmured to another.

"He going into shock?"

"Probably, only surprised he held it off this long."

"Heart rate dipping."

"Adrien?"

Alya looked away from the three trying to keep her friend alive right in front of her, down at the little black creature in her lap. It looked like a stuffed animal, but she could see its little chest rising and falling softly.

Alya squeezed her eyes shut against the measured demands of the paramedics…

-x-

"Adrien?"

He heard her frantic calls echoing down the hallway before he heard her feet pounding on the linoleum.

"Open the door for her so she doesn't run into it?" he asked Alya with a pleading grin from where he sat on the edge of the hospital bed, shirtless, as a nurse looked over him.

Alya wordlessly opened the door and flattened herself against the wall as the black-haired girl tore in and made straight for the blond. She froze in the middle of the room, though, when she noticed the nurse.

Alya quickly moved and laced her arm through her best friend's.

"Are you still hurt?" Marinette asked, and Alya looked up to see the girl was beginning to cry. "I know last time I couldn't—"

"He's fine," the nurse cut her off gently. "He's got a pretty nice bruise left over, but it's nothing we don't usually see after severe injuries from akuma attacks."

"This is typical?" she asked the nurse breathlessly, getting a nod in return.

The nurse turned back to Adrien, who was putting his shirt back down—a new, clean one, Marinette noted. Not the bloodied white one she'd seen him in when she left him in the alley.

"You might feel lingering fatigue, muscle aches, ghost pains," she explained quickly. "All normal. The damage might have reverted but anything your mind remembers of the incident is still a form of damage."

"Thanks," Adrien grinned, standing.

"Your father signed your discharge papers before he left, so you're free to go whenever you're ready."

As the nurse left, Adrien turned to the girls. "Ready?"

Marinette broke down right then, and Adrien jumped, looking towards Alya a little startled.

"Hey, I'm okay, I'm okay," he said, pulling her into his arms.

"I'll be outside," Alya whispered, quickly giving them the room as she shut the door behind herself.

"I'm sorry, Adrien, I almost got you killed," Marinette sobbed, gripping the back of his shirt tightly.

"We're a team Marinette," he murmured into her hair. "We'll adjust."

Marinette sucked in a shaky breath, trying to regain her composure. Adrien rocked them on their feet the way his mother used to do for him, and it seemed to help her breathing even out.

"We had too much on your plate. We'll stop doing joint patrols, cut back to maybe one joint patrol and one solo patrol each a week," he suggested.

Marinette pulled away and frowned at the implication. Was he trying to say she was becoming a liability? "We've never had this issue before—"

"Just until finals are over," he said softly, closing his eyes and dropping his forehead onto hers. He let out a sigh. "We've never had to juggle so much at once before."

Marinette pulled herself closer to him again, relishing the warmth of him against her. As soon as the red bugs had dissipated, she hadn't even stopped to make sure the man that had been the akuma was alright. Because _her_ world was still not alright. She ignored the beeping in her ear until it was nearly too late.

The whole time it took her to get to the hospital that Alya had texted her, she wondered. Was the last kiss they shared that morning the last kiss she'd ever get from him? Was the last time they touched going to be when he was bleeding out in an alley?

"Let's go home," he suggested quietly. "I'm hungry and tired."

Marinette jolted then. "Where is Plagg?" she asked, realizing Tikki wasn't with her. She couldn't remember if Tikki had even followed her into the hospital or not. She hadn't paid attention, her mind was so focused on getting to Adrien and seeing with her own eyes that he was alright.

Adrien stepped away and picked up the wad that was his jacket off the bedside table carefully. "My dad brought me a change of clothes," he explained, carefully unraveling the cloth to see Plagg sleeping next to Tikki inside. "He hasn't woken up since."

"I didn't see any wound on him," Marinette said, running a finger gently over Plagg's forehead. "So I was more concerned about you."

"He'll be okay," Tikki said softly. "Just tired."

"We should go," Adrien said again, covering the pair up again with his jacket. "Alya is waiting in the hall."

"Oh my god, Alya saw," Marinette realized.

"I took care of it," Adrien waved her away, heading for the door.

"Took care of it _how_?" Marinette demanded flatly, stopping on her journey to leave the room behind Adrien.

He stopped when he heard her freeze and turned back around. "What?" And then he realized and rolled his eyes. "She doesn't know about you," he whispered, bending down and giving her a quick kiss. "Just me."

"Wait, Adrien!" Marinette whispered in a panic as he opened the door. "I have more questi—Alya!"

"Better?" she asked, uncrossing her arms and pushing off the wall she was leaning against across the hallway from Adrien's room.

Marinette grabbed Alya in a hug. "Thank you so much for helping him."

"I didn't do much," Alya said, cheeks turning pink. "The doctors and paramedics were the ones that kept him around until Ladybug fixed everything."

"Let me buy you lunch to say thanks at least," Adrien offered. "It's the least I can do, I don't know where I'd be right now without you."

"We don't know if Ladybug can bring back the dead," Marinette added seriously. Her arms moved to wrap around herself at the thought. "Really, you saved him."

"Alright, well, I _have_ been craving that bistro on the Seine," Alya said with a small smirk.

Adrien checked the time on his phone. "Well, let's go now, we have an hour and a half before my dad is expecting me to be home so his own doctors can check me over."

"That's a little psycho," Alya commented as Adrien started leading the way. She latched onto Marinette's arm before hissing in her ear, "we need to _talk_."

Marinette's heart dropped. Alya couldn't keep a secret this big. Of _course_ she couldn't.

That didn't last long…

-x-

"Meet me at the bakery for dinner?" Marinette asked when they'd finished lunch and walked Adrien back to his place. She saw Alya prepare to rip her away from Adrien to tell her whatever it was that she was itching to tell her, but she wasn't quite ready to part with Adrien yet.

But Alya smiled softly and conceded. "Alright. Text me when you're done here."

Marinette waved from the gate as Alya turned and headed away.

"She's going to spill, isn't she," Adrien muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"I think so," Marinette sighed.

"Well," Adrien sighed, "let's go get this over with so I can go lay down."

Marinette frowned up at him, but wrapped a hand around his arm and walked inside with him. Of course, his father was waiting for them in the foyer with an equally pencil-straight, no-nonsense looking man in a white coat.

"Dr. Baudelaire will evaluate you in the front parlor," Gabriel murmured in a tone Marinette had never heard him use before. His hand lifted and he gently brushed some of Adrien's blond hair from his eyes. It was short and intimate, but ended quickly as it had happened when his hand dropped to join the other behind his back. "We will speak at dinner. Will Marinette be joining us?"

Marinette pressed her lips against speaking out against being spoken about like she wasn't there, and let Adrien respond after his eyes flicked down to her.

"No, she has plans. She just wanted to make sure I got home alright."

Gabriel nodded once and gestured down the hall towards the parlor. "Give your parents my regards," Gabriel said to Marinette with a short nod as he took his leave back towards his office.

"Yes, Sir," she mumbled.

"Meet me upstairs." The whisper in her ear sent a chill down her spine and Adrien left a kiss on her cheek before following the doctor down the hall. She waited until she couldn't see him anymore before she moved and slowly made her way up the sprawling staircase and down the hallway towards his bedroom.

It was crazy. Half a year ago, the thought of waiting for Adrien in his bedroom, alone, would have had her heart pounding through her ribcage. Maybe it was the fact that she had run through every bit of adrenaline over the last couple of hours, or the fact she hadn't slept since the night before, but she was surprisingly calm.

Mindlessly, she found her way to his bed and perched herself on the end. Like a horror movie on repeat the fight played over and over in her head. Marinette ran her hands down her face as she analyzed every little thing that she'd done wrong that had ended in her partner nearly _dying_.

"I'm fine."

The voice made her jump from her skin, her hands flying away from her face to see Adrien entering the room.

" _Two_ doctors now have said I'm fine," he bragged jocularly.

Adrien dropped back onto his bed and let out a loud sigh. He closed his eyes and almost immediately got silent. Marinette watched Adrien in wordlessly for a few moments, before slowly climbing onto the bed to sit next to Adrien. She bit her lip and nudged his shirt up over his hip where she'd been, just hours before, staring at a harpoon lodged there.

The skin was smooth and tan, just as it had been, but the blotchy purple bruise was a pretty big reminder that what had happened, _had happened_. The edges of the bruise the size of her fist were yellow and green, making it looks a week old rather than hours new. In the center where it was the worst, she could see a ring, roughly the size the harpoon had been. She traced it lightly with her fingertip.

Adrien flinched as her fingers touched him, a sharp pain shooting through him for half a second before it was gone and he realized he'd imagined it. Ghost pains, the nurse had called it. He blinked up at Marinette, who has jerked her hand back and was holding it to her chest and looking down at him apologetically.

"C'mere," he murmured, reaching up for her, whining her name when she didn't immediately lay down with him.

"Adrien," she sighed when he finally managed to pull her down next to him. "I am _so_ sorry. This shouldn't have ever happened."

"We made it three years before it did," he tried, earning himself a dry look in return.

Marinette pulled herself out of his arms and sat up on her elbows to look down at him. "This is serious."

"I know," he said, sobering.

"This is completely my fault, and completely avoidable." Her anger was bubbling again, but at herself.

"We'll avoid it next time—"

"I already almost got you killed _once_ , Adrien," Marinette snapped, jumping up from the bed.

"That's usually all it takes," Plagg chimed in lazily from his perch inside one of Adrien's trophies above the bed.

The pair glanced up to see an exhausted Plagg and concerned Tikki peeking over the edge down at them.

Marinette gasped and jumped up onto the bed to be eye-level with the kwami.

"Woah—hey, you're messing up my pillows."

Marinette ignored Adrien. "Plagg, oh my gosh, are you alright? I'm s—"

"No," Plagg whined, dropping down into the bowl of the trophy, where Marinette could see a little pillow now. "I had to listen to this already. And let me tell you, it only ever needs to happen twice."

"Plagg," Tikki warned sternly.

"Well, _sometimes_ it happens more than once, and we lose a holder—"

"Plagg!" Tikki snapped loudly. Plagg only let out a groan, and Marinette twisted, dropping down onto Adrien's mountain of pillows. She dropped her face into her hands.

"Marinette—"

"Don't—"

Marinette jumped away from Adrien's touch, leaping off the bed again. This time, Tikki followed her.

"It happens, Marinette," she tried to soothe as Marinette hastily rubbed the tears from her cheeks. Adrien slid to the edge of the bed and rubbed his thighs with his hands. He felt useless, but he honestly didn't want to brush the situation off.

"We will figure it out," Adrien said slowly. "Like you said, it's avoidable."

Tikki nodded. "Adrien is fine."

"We got lucky," Marinette hissed.

"And let's not waste that." Adrien stood and took a step towards her, hands hovering above her arms. "We're adults. We can learn still, it's not illegal just because we're eighteen."

" _You're_ eighteen," Marinette grumbled. "I've got a few months."

"Even better, small child," Adrien teased, wrapping his arms around her. "We will adjust."

Marinette huffed. "You keep saying that."

"And I'll keep saying it until you believe me," he murmured down to her. Marinette tilted her head back so their noses brushed. "You're not going to stop being Ladybug, and I have no intentions of ceasing my antics as Chat Noir. So really, we have no choice."

"I almost lost you today," she whispered, their lips brushing once, twice, a third time.

"You're never going to lose me." He dipped his head to capture her lips solidly and she pushed him back towards the bed.

"Promise?" she whispered as he spun them and bent her backwards, pushing her down gently into the mattress. Automatically, she scooted up so her legs weren't dangling off the end of the bed.

Adrien crawled until he was hovering over her. Her mind always short circuited around him, but over the last month or so it had gone to new levels as they explored their feelings and relationship. She couldn't help but focus on his leg between hers, the way their thighs brushed, how close they were.

"I promise," he breathed, and she didn't wait. Conjuring up all her courage, she gripped his collar and pulled him down to her. Satisfyingly his lips found hers. His body instinctively moved to get more comfortable pose and he curled around her. She twisted beneath him in response until they were both pressed together.

She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think of anything other than the image of him bleeding on the ground in an alley. Feeling daring, she flipped them over and he did exactly as she expected her partner would and moved to her neck without fighting her. They moved in sync and it still amazed her how well the worked together, in and out of the suits.

Marinette moved her hands from his chest and felt lower for the hem of his t-shirt. It needed to disappear. Adrien broke away from her at the request of her hands and reached behind him to jerk his shirt off by the back of the collar. Marinette bit her lip as she watched, the muscles so much more rewarding than she imagined they would be.

"This is hardly fair," Adrien breathed before flipping the tables. Marinette blinked and suddenly she was on her back again. "Do you always get what you want?"

Marinette sputtered a laugh as his lips returned to her neck. "If I got my way, we'd have been doing this years ago."

"Could you have handled this years ago."

"Probably not…" She reached down and looped her fingers through his beltloops. But the reaction came when he wrapped a leg around his thigh. He jumped in a way she hadn't anticipated, but she couldn't hold back the quick giggle.

"You need to go before we get too far," Adrien panted above her. He flicked a chunk of her bangs off her forehead. "Feel better?"

"A bit."

He smiled. "We just need to be more careful."

Marinette nodded slowly before frowning. "I was promised naps."

"Yeah, well, you decided making out with me was a better use of your time."

"It's always a better use of my time…"

Adrien grinned, but pulled away and plucked his shirt off the ground. "Well, you have a date with our lovely reporter tonight about a secret identity."

Marinette watched in a trance as Adrien pulled his shirt back on, eyes lingering on every single toned muscle as he did so.

He turned back to her and put his hands on his hips. "Oh, that reminds me. Rena Rouge and Carapace?"

Marinette rolled her eyes and sat up straighter to straighten out her skirt. "You promised."

" _She_ told _me_."

Marinette stood with a sigh. "Is she really going to reveal three identities in one day?"

Adrien shrugged. "I was bound to find out sooner or later. To be fair, I think I panicked her a little."

Marinette raised a brow. "A little? You _had_ to destroy the harpoon…"

"I wasn't thinking, and I'd bet anything you'd have done the same thing." She moved to her side and tapped her nose in such a Chat Noir way she giggled. She loved when Adrien felt so comfortable around her that his Chat came out.

"Let's not find out, okay?" she shot back with a hand on her hip.

"We can finish this later, I'm pretty sure Ladybug and Chat Noir usually patrol tonight, but I heard they were taking the night off. Chat Noir had a princess alone in a tower to woo." He looped a finger into the top hem of her skirt and pulled her towards him gently.

Marinette raised her eyebrows. "Oh?" she challenged in her most alluring voice as she pushed away and slung her bag over her shoulder, heading for the door. "I wonder if Chat knows that my parents are going to be out _all night_ and he could stay the night if it just happened to get too late…"

"Don't toy with me," Adrien called after her.

Her laugh echoed down the hall as she headed out.

-x-

Alya was pacing around Marinette's room, much to her amusement. It wasn't too often that she saw her best friend this way.

"Just tell me, Alya," Marinette encouraged. "I promise not to be upset with you, whatever it is."

"I'm not worried you'll be upset with _me_ ," Alya exclaimed, throwing her arms out.

Marinette frowned. "Then why are you so worked up?"

"I think there's something going on between Adrien and Ladybug," she blurted out in a rush.

Marinette blinked a few times, and the realization hit her then that Alya wasn't trying to rat out Adrien as Chat Noir, but how she as Ladybug had acted towards Adrien in the alley, namely _kissing him_. "Oh yeah," she breathed, sobering a bit, before the amusement returned full force.

" _Oh yeah_?" Alya scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. Marinette began to laugh, and she couldn't stop. Huge, gasping laughs. "Girl, what is _wrong_ with you?" Alya dropped down onto the bed next to her friend and pried her hands from her face. She immediately regretted telling Marinette when she saw the tears running down her face, but felt confusion at the huge grin also there.

Marinette sucked in air, and ran her hands across her cheeks. She looked down at the wetness and let out a final giggle. "Relief," she explained breathlessly. "I am so relieved."

"And I'm confused, Marinette," Alya said slowly. "I'm telling you Adrien might be seeing someone else behind your back—"

Marinette shook her head quickly. She grabbed Alya's hands in her own and hoped this wasn't about to be a mistake. "Alya, I have something I've wanted to tell you for a long time…"


End file.
